Honeyguide Honeyguides are the most cutthroat type of avian brood parasite. When the female deposits her egg in host nests—usually in dark holes, where the parasite eggs can blend in—she sometimes attacks host eggs, breaking their shells with her beak and claws. Once the honeyguide nestling hatches, it uses the sharp hook on the end of its bill to finish off the remaining host young, puncturing eggs or slashing and stabbing the other nestlings. The host parent tosses out the bodies and raises the remaining, parasitic, hatchling. Caption: In their own way, both the honeyguide parent and nestlings attack the young of the host species.
