15/01/2026
What you’re watching here is a Jacobin Cuckoo chick throwing a tantrum and begging for food from its foster parent, a Black-capped Bulbul. (Sound not great due to a roaring Klaserie River beneath the birds)
That bulbul is not the real parent.
Jacobin Cuckoos are brood parasites — instead of raising their own chicks, they sneak an egg into another bird’s nest. The unsuspecting foster parents then incubate the egg and raise the chick as their own… even when it grows bigger, louder, and far more demanding than any of their real offspring.
The cuckoo chick is basically born knowing how to beg like a champion, triggering the bulbul’s parental instincts on overdrive. And so the bulbul feeds, feeds, and feeds some more — completely unaware it’s been expertly played.
Nature: 1
Bulbul: 0
Cuckoo: Absolute legend
