Common Cuckoo

The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (formerly European Cuckoo) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis, the coucals, and the Hoatzin.

The cuckoo is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, and Reed Warblers.

This cuckoo is a greyish bird with a slender body, long tail and strong legs. The females only are sometimes brown, the “hepatic” phase. It looks like a small bird of prey in flight, although the wings stay below the horizontal. Its food is insects, with hairy caterpillars, which are distasteful to many birds, being a speciality. It is a bird of open land.