Common cuckoo lay eggs that better imitate the host's eggs, the host species adapts and is more able to distinguish the cuckoo egg. A study of 248 common cuckoo and host eggs demonstrated that female cuckoos that parasitised common redstart nests laid eggs that matched better than those that targeted dunnocks. Spectroscopy was used to model how the host species saw the cuckoo eggs. Cuckoos that target dunnock nests lay white, brown-speckled eggs, in contrast to the dunnock's own blue eggs. The theory suggests that common redstarts have been parasitised by common cuckoos for longer, and so have evolved to be better
Common ostrich is scarce in dry and hot environment, and this poses a challenge to the ostrich's water consumption. Also the ostrich is a ground bird and cannot fly to find water sources, which poses a further challenge. Because of their size, common ostriches cannot easily escape the heat of their environment; however, they dehydrate less than their small bird counterparts because of their small surface area to volume ratio. Hot, arid habitats pose osmotic stress, such as dehydration, which triggers the common ostrich’s homeostatic response to osmoregulate. The common ostrich is well adapted to hot, arid environments through specialization of excretory