Today's installment takes its cue from "Scientists Get Bird's-Eye View of How Cuckoos Fool Their Hosts" at Science Daily.
Pattern Masters
A war is on in southern Zambia,
Fought not with bullets but with clever eggs,
Between the Cuckoo Finch and Prinia.
A study of their evolution pegs
Their struggles back some twenty million years,
When Finch first laid its oval, forged design
In nest of Prinia. That egg appears
To match the host's. When hatched, the Finch chicks dine
And outcompete the Prinia's own brood.
Such egg design grows more and more complex.
As Prinia's detection has improved,
It finds the counterfeits and then rejects.
This constant race of bird technology
Evolves an unmatched egg diversity.
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