Would you raise the bird that murdered your children? - Steve Rothstein episode artwork

EPISODE · May 29, 2026 · 7 MIN

Would you raise the bird that murdered your children? - Steve Rothstein

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into the evolutionary strategy of brood parasitism, where one animal tricks another into rearing its young.--A mother honeyguide has placed its chick into a bee-eater’s nest— puncturing all the other eggs in the nest and leaving only its own hatching alive. Over the following weeks, the host parents devotedly care for the hatchling whose mother murdered their offspring. This is brood parasitism, a phenomenon which is especially well-known among birds. Steve Rothstein digs into the evolutionary strategy.Lesson by Steve Rothstein, directed by Mauricio Bueno, Lucy Animation Studio.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/would-you-raise-the-bird-that-murdered-your-children-steve-rothsteinDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/would-you-raise-the-bird-that-murdered-your-children-steve-rothstein#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://lucyanimationstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! David Yastremski, Noah Webb, B, Erica Guerrero, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Milo Vermeulen, Ryan Weiler, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Zongpu Kou, Cameron Chakraverty, Petr Vacek, Rhys Patterson, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Katrina Adams, Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie, Adam Leos, Cindy Lai, Liz, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Vasundhar, Eric Braun, Denka Wee, Sonja Worzewski, Amy, Michael Clement, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano and Ron Kakar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the evolutionary strategy of brood parasitism, where one animal tricks another into rearing its young.--A mother honeyguide has placed its chick into a bee-eater’s nest— puncturing all the other eggs in the nest and leaving only its own hatching alive. Over the following weeks, the host parents devotedly care for the hatchling whose mother murdered their offspring. This is brood parasitism, a phenomenon which is especially well-known among birds. Steve Rothstein digs into the evolutionary strategy.Lesson by Steve Rothstein, directed by Mauricio Bueno, Lucy Animation Studio.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/would-you-raise-the-bird-that-murdered-your-children-steve-rothsteinDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/would-you-raise-the-bird-that-murdered-your-children-steve-rothstein#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://lucyanimationstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! David Yastremski, Noah Webb, B, Erica Guerrero, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Milo Vermeulen, Ryan Weiler, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Zongpu Kou, Cameron Chakraverty, Petr Vacek, Rhys Patterson, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Katrina Adams, Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie, Adam Leos, Cindy Lai, Liz, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Vasundhar, Eric Braun, Denka Wee, Sonja Worzewski, Amy, Michael Clement, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano and Ron Kakar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Would you raise the bird that murdered your children? - Steve Rothstein

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This episode was published on May 29, 2026.

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Dig into the evolutionary strategy of brood parasitism, where one animal tricks another into rearing its young.--A mother honeyguide has placed its chick into a bee-eater’s nest— puncturing all the other eggs in the nest and leaving only its own...

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