Would you raise the bird that murdered your children? - Steve Rothstein

Imagine finding out you’ve been unknowingly raising someone else’s kid alongside your own and your first response is “Welp, it was nice knowing you, kiddos, but I’m gonna ditch you with this impostor and start a whole new family.”

Its crazy that the parasite birds hatch and already know that they are supposed to kill other eggs

You forgot to mention one important aspect of brood parasitism: retaliation. Some species of brood parasites like some cuckoos have an almost mafia-like control over their hosts. The mother keeps an eye on their egg/young from afar and if the hosts reject the egg or chick, the parasitic species will destroy the nest and prevent the host from breeding further that season out of spite. So for some hosts it is in their best interests to foster the parasitic chick in the hopes that their next brood won't be parasitized rather than reject the foreign egg and/or chick and be unable to breed at all. "That is a nice nest you have there, it would be a shame if something...happened to it."

Actually there are some studies, which predict, that some birds are consciously hosting a parasit because they know the consequences. Some parents of the parasitic chicks destroy the nests, if there chick is kicked out. So they conditioned other birds to raise their children. That takes this ecological relationship to a whole new level.

The music , the animation , the dark vibes and cruel reality.. this is so well done , it combined the amazing information for the mind with beautiful emotions for the soul.

Wow, the music and graphics went along perfectly, and the subject was fascinating as always! That last remark on morals, humans, and animals was quite pertinent and deserves elaboration in the future!

Imagine, you come home after a long day of work to go see how your kids are doing, then see that a ----ing bird has killed them and screams "Raise me, father"

Why isn't anyone talking about the narrator? He did such a good job

The animation was both slightly disturbing and incredibly compelling. What a cool video to describe such a twisted survival strategy. Being able to "figure things out" as an evolutionary development baffles me. How do some creatures evolve to invent creative solutions to their problems? It's so odd.

Ted is pushing the bars high. Next level animation. Loved it

"is it ever productive to impose human morals onto other animals?" I LOVED this line!! It shows us that life is about survival and carrying forth their species to a new generation. and it doesn't matter what they must do to achieve that as long as they get it done.

I love the animation of this episode. It is excellent and match the "murderer's" vibe perfectly. Especially, i love the way they descripe the soulless and cruel eyes of the parasitic chicks. I hope to see more videos with this style of animation in the future.

I remember my grandpa was an avid birdwatcher. He lived out in the woods, and he'd sit on his porch as I was growing up and tell me the names of all the birds we found. For the most part he was a chill dude, but whenever he was birdwatching, he'd always have a .22 rifle resting in his lap, to kill any cowbirds he saw. He was... not a fan of them, so I learned about their brooding habits from a pretty early age.

Wow, this video isn’t just content, it’s art. The animation was just as captivating as the topic at hand—something I would LOVE to see more of in the educational YouTube sphere!

Ted Ed: "Trust no bird" Kurzgesagt be like: "am I a joke to u?"

I thought this was for humans before you ask: my brain: wtf why would you adopt the bird that murdered your child

Makes you think if brood parasitism was present during the age of dinosaurs or only after they evolved to birds.

I thought this video was going to explore the existential question of if I (as a human) would raise a bird who murdered my (also human) children and I was not ready to wrap my head around that scenario.

Finally, I know why the swan egg was in the duck's nest.

Scariest movie I've seen this year.