Cuckoo's egg (metaphor) in the context of "Cuckoo"

⭐ In the context of cuckoos, the term 'cuckoo's egg' is considered…

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⭐ Core Definition: Cuckoo's egg (metaphor)

The term cuckoo's egg is a metaphor for brood parasitism, where a parasitic bird deposits its egg into a host's nest, which then incubates and feeds the chick that hatches, even at the expense of its own offspring. That original biological meaning has been extended to other uses, including one which references spyware and other pieces of malware.

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👉 Cuckoo's egg (metaphor) in the context of Cuckoo

Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae (/kjuːˈkjlɪd/ kew-KEW-lih-dee) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes (/kjˈkjlɪfɔːrmz/ kew-KEW-lih-for-meez). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae, respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.

The cuckoos are generally medium-sized, slender birds. Most species live in trees, though a sizeable minority are ground-dwelling. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution; the majority of species are tropical. Some species are migratory. The cuckoos feed on insects, insect larvae, and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Some species (for example, the majority of cuckoo species living in Eurasia) are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species and giving rise to the terms "cuckoo's egg" and "cuckold" as metaphors. However, most species raise their own young.

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