{"id":16157,"date":"2017-03-30T06:47:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T06:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=16157"},"modified":"2025-08-13T12:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:13:54","slug":"birds-deceive-get-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds That Deceive To Get Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first day of April is notable mostly because that is the time\u00a0of the year where pranks and deception rule the day. With that theme in mind, there are plenty of instances in nature where animals\u00a0have evolved to be deceptive as a survival tactic.\u00a0Here\u2019s a look at bird species that use trickery to get ahead.<\/p>\n<h3>False Alarms<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44513\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44513\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-44513\" src=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/fork-tailed-drongo-wm-dick-daniels-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"fork-tailed drongo perched on thin branch outdoors\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/fork-tailed-drongo-wm-dick-daniels-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/fork-tailed-drongo-wm-dick-daniels-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/fork-tailed-drongo-wm-dick-daniels-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/fork-tailed-drongo-wm-dick-daniels.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44513\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Africa&#8217;s fork-tailed drongo will sometimes give off false alarm calls so that it can scoop in and steal other birds&#8217; food. Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Fork-tailed_Drongo_RWD.jpg\">Dick Daniels (https:\/\/theworldbirds.org\/)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\">CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The fork-tailed drongo, an African native, likes to hang out with flocks of other birds. This bird typically fills the role of lookout and gives off an alarm call when predators are in the area, which sends the flocks of birds around it scattering into the air to flee. But there is one trick the drongo likes to play to score some easy food, and that is to set off a false alarm call. When the birds around it take off, the drongo goes in and steals their food. If the other birds start to catch on, there\u2019s another trick up the drongo\u2019s sleeve. Researcher Tom Flower of the University of Cape Town and his colleagues determined that the drongo can\u00a0also mimic the alarm calls of 45 other bird and animal species.<\/p>\n<h3>Faking It<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44515\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44515\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-44515\" src=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/killdeer-wm-courtney-celley-usfws-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"killdeer mother on the ground with wings out protecting her nest\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/killdeer-wm-courtney-celley-usfws-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/killdeer-wm-courtney-celley-usfws-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/killdeer-wm-courtney-celley-usfws-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/killdeer-wm-courtney-celley-usfws.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44515\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Courtney Celley <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Killdeer_Protecting_Her_Nest_(27946794627).jpg\">USFWS Midwest Region from United States<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Never underestimate the heroics birds are capable of when it comes to protecting their young. For example, it\u2019s not uncommon to see little birds fly after birds of prey to\u00a0drive them away from a nest or chicks. Some ground-nesting birds, which are especially vulnerable to being preyed upon, rely on deception to lure predators away from their nests and young. Birds like the killdeer, native to the U.S., Canada and Mexico, protect their nests by feigning injury. The adult killdeer will drag one wing while frantically flapping the other and giving off a distress call. If this doesn\u2019t stop the predator from heading toward the nest, the bird will wobble closer to the predator to get its attention and then flies off when it has distracted the predator. The Northern lapwing employs a similar tactic to protect its young.<\/p>\n<h3>Free Nanny<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44517\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44517\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44517 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"reed warbler perched on branch feeding a cuckoo in nest\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44517\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A reed warbler parent feeds a much larger cuckoo chick that hatched in its nest. Cuckoo hens are known to lay their eggs in other birds&#8217; nests and their chicks are subsequently cared for by the tricked bird. Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Reed_warbler_cuckoo.jpg\">Per Harald Olsen<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some birds have taken the burden of raising chicks off their shoulders so to speak and instead put that burden on a non-related bird species. Reed warblers are just about the size of a sparrow but they sometimes get tricked into raising a bird four times its size. That larger bird is a cuckoo.<\/p>\n<p>Cuckoo hens are known to fly into a reed warblers\u2019 nest (as well as the nests of dunnocks and meadow pipits), when the parents are away so the cuckoo hen can lay an egg next to those of the reed warbler\u2019s. When the eggs hatch, the unsuspecting reed warbler gets tricked into rearing the cuckoo\u2019s chick. The cuckoo is a brood parasite, which describes an organism that relies on others to raise their young. This behavior is seen in birds, insects and some types of fish.<\/p>\n<p>In a more extreme case of parasitic birds, the North American brown-headed cowbird has been observed \u201cpunishing\u201d host birds by destroying their clutches if the host birds reject their eggs. According to Maria Abou Chakra, lead author of a study on the cowbird\u2019s parasitic behavior, &#8220;They give the hosts no choice. If they wish to avoid retaliation, they need to keep the foreign egg.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>You can get an up close look at this \u201cmafia-style\u201d parasitic behavior in this <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2016\/12\/these-parasitic-birds-act-just-human-criminals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Science<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>article, which includes how the cowbird stakes out its target nest and has to get the timing just right to swoop in and leave its egg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first day of April is notable mostly because that is the day of the year where pranks and deception rule the day. With that theme in mind, there are plenty of instances in nature where animals have evolved to be deceptive as a survival tactic. Here\u2019s a look at bird species that use trickery to get ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Birds That Deceive To Get Ahead &#8211; Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some animals in nature have evolved to be deceptive as a survival tactic. 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Here\u2019s a look at bird species that use trickery to get ahead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-30T06:47:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-13T17:13:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Doering\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Doering\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Doering\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91d34cf50fe5ae902f83d3087b4cbd32\"},\"headline\":\"Birds That Deceive To Get Ahead\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-30T06:47:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-13T17:13:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":713,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Everyday\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/\",\"name\":\"Birds That Deceive To Get Ahead &#8211; Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/birds-deceive-get-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/reed-warbler-cuckoo-wm-harald-olsen.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-30T06:47:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-13T17:13:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91d34cf50fe5ae902f83d3087b4cbd32\"},\"description\":\"Some animals in nature have evolved to be deceptive as a survival tactic. 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She has authored a multitude of articles covering all aspects of pet birds and their care, and has had the opportunity to interview world-renowned avian behaviorists, veterinarians, aviculturists, researchers and conservationists. Her journey in the bird world has taken her to the remote areas of Brazil to see hyacinth macaws in their native habitat, as well as on bird-watching trips to Spain, Puerto Rico and Mexico. She is especially thankful to have met so many passionate pet bird owners throughout her years at the helm of Bird Talk magazine. Her interest in pet birds started at the age of 9, when she saved up her penny collection to buy Elvis, her cockatiel companion of 22 years. 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She has authored a multitude of articles covering all aspects of pet birds and their care, and has had the opportunity to interview world-renowned avian behaviorists, veterinarians, aviculturists, researchers and conservationists. Her journey in the bird world has taken her to the remote areas of Brazil to see hyacinth macaws in their native habitat, as well as on bird-watching trips to Spain, Puerto Rico and Mexico. She is especially thankful to have met so many passionate pet bird owners throughout her years at the helm of Bird Talk magazine. Her interest in pet birds started at the age of 9, when she saved up her penny collection to buy Elvis, her cockatiel companion of 22 years. Little did she know then that her love of birds would some day lead to a career in which being chased by a cockatoo during a photo-shoot, having a 5-minute phone conversation with a reader\u2019s African grey parrot, hand-wrestling a caique to get her pilfered ring back and having her work desk \u201cre-decorated\u201d by a visiting Amazon parrot were all just another day at the office. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Davis.","sameAs":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/laura\/"],"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/laura\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44518,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16157\/revisions\/44518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}