Q.39 What is brood parasitism? Explain with the help of an example.

Ans. Brood parasitism is the phenomenon in which an organism (parasite) lays eggs on the nest of another organism (host).

e.g., the Cuckoo (koel) bird lays its eggs in the nest of its host and lets the host incubate them. The eggs of the parasitic bird resemble the host's egg in size and color to reduce the chances of the host bird detecting the foreign eggs and ejecting them from the nest.