How do social birds like corvids relate to the cuckoo chicks raised by their neighbours?

[Laurie Knight <>]

Earlier this year I came across an immature CB Cuckoo sitting on a power line 
in association with its hosts. The thing was that there was quite a space 
between the CBC and the half dozen crows on the line.  I got the impression 
that the crows were uneasy with the CBC in their midst.

That got me to thinking.  Clearly cuckoo hosts can be fooled into raising 
cuckoo chicks - presumably because they are similar enough to their own young 
when they hatch.  As the chicks grow, they become less like their hosts.  The 
question is how do the non loco parentis members of the host species relate to 
the interlopers in their midst?

Regards, Laurie
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