An interesting mechanism in the cuckoo's mouth (3 photos)

Madagascar cuckoos have renounced the brutal crimes of their family. They do not throw their eggs at other people's parents, and the chicks do not throw each other out of the nest in a rage. However, there is another joke here. Look at their children's mouths.





Help, I'm being controlled by some ghost!

Is this a fungus, candidiasis, or are they trying to scare someone? Everything is simpler. Babies are born almost completely naked and blind. Parents do not leave the nest and take care of their children until they grow up. But in case the feathered rebels nevertheless forget about their duties, the chicks have special markings in their mouths. Their outlines resemble an additional open beak. An entertaining drawing serves as an indicator of where exactly the food should be placed.



Let's! Put your food in me!

Apparently, birds have developed such a mechanism in order to eat for two. And in the literal sense of the word. Internal competition among chicks supports the formation of such a pattern in the mouth, since this directly stimulates the parent to notice the chick and put the spider bug in its mouth. The only question is, why didn’t other birds think of this before? There are probably other reasons for this pattern.



Mom, this creature inside me wants to eat me!