Arrival of the Cuckoos

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Amongst all the other bird song this month listen out for the springtime call of the cuckoo. It's becoming a less familiar sound in the UK, but April is the time when this bird returns from Africa to start its notorious nesting behavior. Rather than go to all the trouble of building a nest and raising it's own chicks, the cuckoo simply places its eggs in another bird's nest.


For their size, the cuckoo's eggs are very heavy, and the inside must be like Dr. Who's tardis, because it seems incredible that such a large chick could emerge from such a small container. Either the chick is very well packed inside the shell or it's just instinctively good at Yoga.

Scientific name: Cuculus canorus

Size: Approx 30cm

Distribution: Can be found throughout the UK, although in recent years numbers have been declining

Months seen: April to September. Cuckoos spend the winter months in Africa

Habitat: Parks, gardens and woodland

Food: Invertebrates

Special features: The cuckoo is more frequently heard than seen. Its call in April is a familiar springtime sound.

The cuckoo is well known for it's parasitic nesting behavior. The female selects a suitable nest, usually made by a smaller bird. She removes one egg from the nest and lays one of her own in its place.

When the cuckoo chick hatches out, it pushes out the remaining eggs or chicks from the nest, ensuring full attention from its foster parents.

The foster parents feed the cuckoo chick as if it were their own, even after the chick has grown much larger than the parent bird.

Adult cuckoos migrate to Africa in July or August, and their offspring usually follow in September.

haha lazy mothers xx

Didnt know this