The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer …

Cuckoos are medium-sized birds that range in size from the little bronze cuckoo, at 17 g (0.6 oz) and 15 cm (6 in), to moderately large birds, ranging from 60–80 cm (24–31 in) in length, such as the giant coua of Madagascar, the coral-billed ground-cuckoo of Indochina, and various large Indo-Pacific coucals such as the goliath coucal of ...

Mar 26, 2014 · Cuckoo chicks are interlopers in the nests of other species, and can be seen being frantically fed by their unwitting foster parent, despite often being clearly many times larger than...

Some species of these birds are brood parasites. This means that the female finds another bird’s nest, waits until the other bird is gone, and lays her own egg inside! The unsuspecting bird returns to her nest and incubates the cuckoo’s egg, then cares for the chick when it hatches. Read on to learn about the cuckoo bird.

Jan 28, 2024 · These anti-cuckoo defenses span rejection of foreign eggs, mobbing and attacking adult cuckoos, discriminating against cuckoo chicks, and precisely identifying their own eggs. Cuckoo tricks like mimicry spark ever-sharper host defenses like signature patterns.

Jan 23, 2024 · When a female cuckoo lays her egg in another bird’s nest, she will often push one or more of the host eggs out of the nest to make room for her own egg. This ensures the host bird spends its efforts raising the cuckoo chick rather than its own offspring.

Nov 4, 2021 · In this article, we’ll cover the common cuckoo’s taxonomy, distribution, physical characteristics, diet, nest stealing behavior, chick behavior, and importance ecologically and culturally. We’ll also answer a few frequently asked questions about the common cuckoo, the bird that steals nests.

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.

Jan 16, 2025 · Explore how cuckoo birds expertly navigate brood parasitism, adapting to and manipulating host species for successful chick development. Cuckoo birds have evolved a fascinating reproductive strategy known as brood parasitism, where they lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species.

Mar 1, 2025 · The Cuckoo Chick’s Ruthless Start. Once hatched, the cuckoo chick takes its disruptive behavior to a new level. In many, though not all, cuckoo species, the baby cuckoo is born with an innate instinct to eliminate any competition.