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What a rare vignette from the wilds of central India! This hulk of a parasitic Cuckoo was brought up by the much smaller Rufous-backed Shrike. The Shrike has no idea that the Cuckoo's mother laid her eggs in its nest! What grew up was this massive bird that is four times the mother Shrike's size and it opens its orange gape demanding food at the cost of its legitimate 'siblings' - the actual chicks of the Shrike. It grows so large it cannot sit in the nest and perches on a side branch! All this while, the poor mother grows thin from trying to feed the unending appetite of the parasite - the young one of the Common Hawk Cuckoo of the Brainfever bird of India. What a fabulous shot of a slice of life from nature. The reality of parasitism. Even birds and animals can get fooled. Not just human
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