Female cuckoo calls misdirect host defences towards the wrong enemy.

Abstract in brief

• Female cuckoo calls deceive host birds by making them focus on their own safety rather than defending their nest.
• The female cuckoo's conspicuous "chuckle" call mimics a predator (like a hawk), distracting host parents and increasing the chance their parasitic egg is accepted.
• Experimental results show that hosts ignore the cuckoo's call when it sounds harmless, but respond to the female cuckoo's call like a predator, revealing how cuckoos exploit host risk perception to improve parasitism success.]