Brood Parasitism: Egg Mimicry — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2023Brood parasitism in birds is a fascinating example of parasitism in which the parasitic bird lays its eggs in the nest of its host and lets the host incubate them. During the course of evolution, the eggs of the parasitic bird have evolved to resemble the host's egg in size and colour to reduce the chances of the host
Brood parasitism is when a parasitic bird (like cuckoo) lays eggs in another bird's nest, and the host bird unknowingly incubates them. The parasite's eggs evolve to match the host's eggs in size and color, reducing rejection by the host. Students often confuse this with other types of parasitism or forget that egg mimicry is the key evolutionary adaptation. Remember: the parasite doesn't care for its own eggs—the host does, making this a successful survival strategy. NEET tests this by asking why parasitic bird eggs resemble host eggs or defining the mechanism of brood parasitism.
Match List-I with List-II: (NEET 2023) List-I (Interacting Species) A. A Leopard and a Lion in a forest/grassland B. A cuckoo laying eggs in crow’s nest C. Fungi and root of higher plant in mycorrhizae D. A cattle egret and cattle in a field List-II (Interaction Type) I. Competition II. Brood parasitism III. Mutualism IV. Commensalism Choose the correct answer:
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 88 of 90 questions from the NEET 2026 paper were matched straight from the MedicNEET Biology question bank.
88/90MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.