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Cuckoos. Scientific Name: Cuculidae. Type: Birds. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: Cooch, asylum. Average Life Span: Four to eight years, depending on the species. Size: Six to 24 inches. Weight: 0.6...
Apr 5, 2024 · cuckoo, any of numerous birds of the family Cuculidae (order Cuculiformes). The name usually designates some 60 arboreal members of the subfamilies Cuculinae and Phaenicophaeinae. In western Europe “cuckoo,” without modifiers, refers to the most common local form, elsewhere called the common, or European, cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus ).
The Cuckoo is a dove-sized bird with a blue-grey back, head and chest, and stripey black and white belly. Its sleek body, long tail and pointed wings gives it an appearance not unlike Kestrels or Sparrowhawks. Cuckoos are summer visitors and known for being brood parasites.
It is well known as a brood parasite: females lay their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, and their hapless 'hosts' raise only young cuckoos. A common migratory bird across most of Europe and Asia, it regularly strays to the western Alaskan islands in late spring and early summer.
More to Read. Yellow-billed Cuckoos are slender, long-tailed birds that manage to stay well hidden in deciduous woodlands. They usually sit stock still, even hunching their shoulders to conceal their crisp white underparts, as they hunt for large caterpillars. Bold white spots on the tail’s underside are often the most visible feature on a ...
Cuckoo guide: why they call ‘cuckoo’, how they trick other birds, and ...
Macaulay Library. eBird. Explore Common Cuckoo. Found in woodland, heathland, farmland with hedges, marshes with scattered bushes.
