Cuckoos 'use disguises to lay eggs'

A cuckoo chick in a reed warbler nest at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire
NB Davies/University of Cambridge/PA
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A cuckoo chick in a reed warbler nest at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire (NB Davies/University of Cambridge/PA)

Cuckoos don different disguises to lay eggs in other birds' nests unmolested, scientists have learned.

A well known feature of the cuckoo is its ability to lay eggs that resemble those of its victims.

But cuckoo trickery goes a lot further, according to new research, reported in the journal Science.