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 smoky honeyeater Common smoky honeyeater The common smoky honeyeater ("Melipotes fumigatus") is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It is one of four species in the genus "Melipotes", all closely related and forming a superspecies. After another similar species, the wattled smoky honeyeater, was discovered in 2005 in the Foja Mountains it has also been called the common smoky honeyeater. The species is endemic to the island of New Guinea, where it occurs in the Central Ranges across the length of the island as well as two isolated populations on north west and north of the island. There are