Finding good day

care can certainly pose a problem these days,

unless, of course, you're an African widow bird.

When it comes time for a female widow bird to lay

her eggs, she simply locates the nest of a nearby

Estrildid finch and surreptitiously drops the eggs

inside. That's the last the widow bird ever sees of

her offspring. But not to worry, because the

Estrildid finch will take devoted care of the

abandoned birds as if they were her own. And

who's to tell the difference? Though adult widow

birds and Estrildid finches don't look at all alike,

their eggs do. Not only that, baby widow birds are

dead ringers for Estrildid finch chicks, both having

the same colouration and markings. They even act

and sound the same, thus ensuring that the widow

bird nestlings can grow up among their alien

nestmates with no risk of being rejected by their

foster parents. MASTERS OF DISGUISE Things

aren't always as they seem, and nowhere is this

more true than in nature, where......

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Title: The Great Imposters
Approximate Word Count: 1261
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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