Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) Species Guide: Appearance, Diet, Habitat, Behavior, Stats, And Conservation Status

Species Guide | Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

APPEARANCE

The Common Cuckoo is approximately the same size as a Dove. They are slate-grey in coloration with lighter grey chest and black and white striped belly. Their appearance is not dissimilar to that of a Sparrowhawk or Kestrel, and it is this appearance that is integral to their reproductive behavior.

Diet

Their diet predominantly consists of insects, occasionally eating the eggs and even chicks of other birds. One of their favorite foods is hairy caterpillars.

HABITAT

Cuckoos are summer visitors to the UK. They inhabit a range of habitat types including broadleaf, coniferous, moors, pastoral, and even urban environments. Their population density is greatest in Scotland and Western Ireland, with high densities also reported in Dartmoor, Exmoor, and the New Forest.

Note: This map is intended as a rough illustration of animal distribution across the UK¹, whereby light green indicates light populations and dark green indicates denser populations.

Behavior

As mentioned, the Common Cuckoo is only a summer visitor to the UK (Europe & Asia), they spend the colder months in Africa.

Did You Know?² The English historically believed that the absence of Cuckoos in the Wintertime was because they magically turned into Sparrowhawks!

The familiar “cuckoo” call is only made by the male of the species. The female of the species makes more of a bubbling sound.

Common Cuckoos mimic Sparrowhawks, which affords them protection from attacks, in particular whilst they are laying their eggs. They are classed as brood parasites since they lay their eggs into the nests of other bird species including but not limited to Meadow Pipits & Dunnocks. They lay an egg in a nest and then remove one of the hosts’ eggs. Common Cuckoo eggs also use mimicry here, as the eggs themselves resemble the eggs of the host; albeit larger.

Cuckoo eggs hatch after only 12 days, and the nestling then proceeds to push the host nestlings and any other eggs out of the nest. The host continues to feed the nestling, even when its size is much larger than the host bird. Because the breeding adults play no part in the upbringing of their young, they typically return to Africa mid-summer. Their young leave later once they have fully developed their feathers.

STATS

NATURAL PREDATORS

Adult birds have very few predators due to their size and appearance. They can though fall victim to Sparrowhawks. Their nestlings can be subject to a range of predators including birds and mammals.

Conservation Status

Common Cuckoos are red-listed in the UK due to recent declines in their numbers. Though from a global viewpoint, they are classified as Least Concern.

U.K.
Conservation Status

Global
Conservation Status

References

1. Population data based on BTO assessment
2. Spence, L. (1979). Minor Traditions of British Mythology. Ayer Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-405-08989-3.
3. Featherbase
4. Weight data based on BTO assessment