Cuckoo eggs. What does the common cuckoo eat

30.09.2019

common cuckoo- it is easiest to recognize this bird when, having settled on a dry peak, it begins to cuckoo, slightly straightening and raising its tail and turning from side to side. Sometimes it is even possible to spy on the mating games of birds. Then a red-haired female in dark mottles is immediately surrounded by 2-3 gray gentlemen (many females are colored the same way). Trying to outshout each other, they loudly cuckoo and instead of the two-syllable "cuckoo" they begin to triple the sound - "cuckoo, cuckoo". Sometimes they get into fights. The female responds to calls with a thin, drawn-out scream “cli-cli-cli-cli” or a loud hoarse laugh “u-ha-ha-ha-ha”.

For trackers, the cuckoo is an inconvenient object of observation. It practically leaves no traces by which this bird could be recognized and which could tell something new about its diet or some habits.

Cuckoo habitats

This migrant we spend quite a lot in Russia a short time. It returns from wintering not earlier than the second half of April, and already at the end of July, old birds begin to migrate to the south. Since that time, they often fly into villages and even into city parks. And in September, young cuckoos fly away from us. Birds from the western regions spend winter in Africa, and from the east - in India and Southeast Asia.

In summer, keeping in the forests, along the outskirts of bushes or reed beds, the cuckoo often flies down to grab a caterpillar or some other insect seen in the grass, and immediately flies back. Its short, long-toed paws are little adapted to movement on the ground. Birds can only clumsily ride a short distance. But even in these cases, no paw prints can be seen on grassy or dry soil.

Underside of cuckoo's foot and droppings

cuckoo paws

The fingers of the cuckoo are arranged in the same way as those of woodpeckers or owls. Two fingers (2nd and 3rd) point forward and two (1st and 4th) backwards. The outer fingers, 3rd and 4th, are long and thin, with slightly curved claws. The inner ones are very short. The second finger, together with the claw, does not reach the claw of the middle finger. By these features, the footprint of a cuckoo can be unmistakably distinguished from the footprints of woodpeckers, in which the soles of the feet are rougher and rougher, the fingers are thicker, and the claws are strongly curved and leave traces in the form of small pits in front of the fingerprints. The length of the print of the cuckoo's foot is about 5.5 cm, slightly shorter than the print of the green woodpecker and slightly longer than the gray-haired one.

Cuckoo pellets and droppings

It seems that the cuckoo does without water - I have never seen its tracks either along the banks of streams or near puddles left after the rain. In general, finding cuckoo paw prints is very difficult. Feeding on large insects, such as May beetles and large hairy caterpillars, whose hairs linger in abundance in the cuticle of the walls of the stomach, the cuckoo drops pellets from time to time. Knowing this, I diligently examined the soil under the trees on which I most often found these birds. But never found a clue. It is possible that cuckoos do not shed them during the day, but during sleep, as, for example, the goshawk does.

Cuckoo droppings also do not have any features by which it could be confidently distinguished from the droppings of other birds. This is a liquid white blob with thicker dark areas inside. It can also be mistaken for the droppings of a medium-sized owl (like an eared or marsh) or a small corvid, like a magpie.

Egg-laying cuckoo

More than 125 bird species of Eurasia are known, in the nests of which cuckoo eggs or chicks were found. The vast majority of these were nests of small songbirds. But sometimes cuckoo eggs were found in the nests of magpies, jays, woodpeckers, wild pigeons, and even in the nest of great grebe. Naturally, such eggs were doomed to death.

The cuckoo is a rather large bird: it is about 36 cm long and weighs 107 g. But the cuckoo eggs are very small compared to its size, on average 23 × 17.23 mm and weighing about 3 g. The cuckoo develops very quickly in the egg and hatches at 11 -12th day, while in the birds most often becoming caregivers cuckoos, chicks hatch on average on the 13th day.

It happens that the cuckoo fails to lay an egg in the intended nest. There is a case when a cuckoo repeatedly tried to put an egg in the nest of willow warblers for 2 hours, but each time a couple of small birds boldly drove her away, and she could not throw her egg to them.

Apparently, in such cases, cuckoo eggs sometimes end up in completely random nests, where they cannot be incubated, and the cuckoos are fed. Cuckoo eggs have been found in empty nests of wrens adapted for roosting and not for hatching, as well as in nests of waders and other birds that are completely unsuitable for feeding the cuckoo.

Many cuckoo eggs die already in the process of laying. Before laying an egg, the cuckoo sits for a long time, hiding in the bushes and watching the birds, which she intends to make educators of her child. Having discovered their dwelling by the behavior of birds, she chooses the moment when the owners are not there, flies up to the nest, sits on it and lays an egg.

If the nest does not allow the cuckoo to lay an egg directly into it (such are the closed nests of the wren or small huts of warblers, etc.), the female lays the egg on the ground, and then in her beak transfers the nest to the nest tray. These are the most favorable cases of egg laying. It falls into the nest chosen in advance by the cuckoo and usually at the right time, at the beginning of the laying. Before laying the egg, she pulls the host's egg out of the nest and usually eats it.

It happens that the male cuckoo plays along with the female. It flies low over the nest, distracting host birds to itself. A lot of small birds, seeing this, begin to pursue him. The female at this time hurries to the nest left by the birds and does her dirty work. This is a less favorable case for the successful hatching of the cuckoo: the male distracted the already incubating female, and the cuckoo does not always have time to hatch on time.

The cuckoo often lays an egg in the nests of hollow nesters, pressing its tail against the hole in the hollow. At the same time, it often misses, it falls to the ground and breaks. But even after passing through the hole in the hollow, the egg does not always fall directly into the tray, sometimes it breaks, landing on the laid eggs, although the shell of cuckoo eggs is noticeably stronger than that of eggs of small passerine birds.

Cuckoo eggs are very diverse in color. There is a "reed" color - bluish with dark spots, there is a "redstart" blue color. There are many other types of coloring.

If the cuckoo egg gets into the nest of the right bird and on time, there is no guarantee that the chick will be hatched from it and the chick will be safely fed. Birds have different attitudes towards the appearance of someone else's egg in the nest. Some continue to incubate, despite the great difference between their eggs and cuckoo eggs in size and color. Others abandon the nest, as wrens often do. Some just throw away the cuckoo's egg - that's what city sparrows always do. Sometimes the birds line a new tray in the nest, covering the old clutch along with the cuckoo egg with bast fibers, hair and feathers, and are taken to the new clutch.

I remember that in a meadow near Moscow I found a nest of a yellow wagtail with large, almost fully fledged chicks. When I began to put aluminum rings on the paws of the chicks, I found a blue talker egg at the bottom of the nest. In yellow wagtails, the eggs are fawn-brown in color and smaller. Apparently, the cuckoo intended the blue egg for the nest of the meadow chaser - it has blue eggs, but, not finding a suitable nest, it carried it to the nest of the wagtail. And although she did not reject the planted egg, the chick did not hatch from it. Probably, native chicks hatched very quickly, so the cuckoo egg died.

cuckoo

It's not easy to raise a cuckoo in someone else's nest. Of more than 100 species of potential hosts, most often nestlings or cuckoo eggs are found in nests of 10-20 species. Below is a list of some of the types middle lane Russia:

Robin - the average size eggs 19.5×15.2 mm; cuckoo egg 23.6 × 18.3 mm, pale yellow with small red spots, thickening to a blunt end (often similar in color to robin eggs).
Forest horse - eggs 21.1 × 15.6 mm, color varies greatly, most often grayish, with small and dense brownish mottles; cuckoo egg - 22.8 x 16.8 mm. the color resembles the eggs of a horse.
White wagtail - eggs 19.98 × 14.18 mm in size, bluish with a sparse dark speck; cuckoo egg - 23 × 15.4 mm, the color resembles the eggs of the owners of the nest.
Thrush warbler - eggs 23.3 × 15.7 mm, bluish with dark spots; cuckoo eggs - 24.5 × 16.6 mm, often very similar in color.
Garden redstart - eggs 17.88 × 13.43 mm, blue; cuckoo eggs - 21 × 15.5 cm. the same color.
Gray warbler - eggs 18.1 x 13.8 mm, buffy, with dense bluish and brown specks; cuckoo eggs - 21 × 14.7 mm, often about the same color.
Forest convoluter - eggs 19.56 × 15.54 mm in size, blue; cuckoo egg -23.3 × 15.7 mm, the same color.
Shrike Shrike - eggs measuring 22.19 x 16.45 mm, slightly ocher, with bluish and dark clay spots; cuckoo egg - 21.3 × 16.4 mm, often about the same color.
Warbler Chernogolovka - eggs 19.2 × 14.5 mm in size, slightly ocher, with clay spots: cuckoo egg - 22 × 16.3 mm, reminiscent of the color of the eggs of the nest owners.
Wren - eggs 16.66 × 12.77 mm. white with small reddish mottles; cuckoo egg - 24 × 17.1 mm, very different in size and color.

The greatest coincidence in color and size is most often observed in the nests of the Thrush Warbler and Shrike Shrike. Similar in color, but much larger cuckoo eggs are found in the nests of the garden redstart, robin, hickey, reed warbler. The smallest similarity between cuckoo eggs and caregiver eggs, especially in size, is observed in the nests of wren and warblers.

I know of cases of successful rearing of cuckoos in the nests of only a few birds - robin, white wagtail, forest pipit, thrush-like warbler, redstart, forest convert, miller's warbler and long-tailed uragus bullfinch.

On the territory of Russia, in the Far East, there are cuckoos - deaf, Indian, small, broad-winged.

deaf cuckoo

The deaf cuckoo is found not only in the Far East, but reaches the northeastern regions of Europe. Occasionally observed in the Moscow region. In the Far East, this cuckoo most often throws its eggs into the nests of local warblers.

Little cuckoo

Indian cuckoo

The Indian cuckoo is found in the Southern Primorye, but the biology of this bird is almost unknown for our places. Outside of Russia, her chicks were found in the nests of the black-headed coinage.

broad-winged cuckoo

The broad-winged cuckoo in Japan most often lays its eggs in the nests of blue nightingales, Japanese robins, spotted pipits, bluetails, black-headed chasers, golden thrushes, i.e. those birds that are found in our South Kuril Islands, Sakhalin or in South Primorye.

Even though it's about biology common cuckoo Much is known, yet much remains unclear. The biology of most other cuckoos found in our country has not been sufficiently studied.

It is difficult to imagine a forest without a cuckoo. Each of us has repeatedly heard the loud “cuckoo” of the male and the characteristic gurgling trill of the female (by the way, the famous “cuckoo!” is the cry of “male”, meaning: “I'm here!”; The female cuckoo makes sounds resembling laughter) . And that the cuckoo does not build nests, but lays eggs in other people's nests, is also well known to all of us. It seems that everything has already been said about the cuckoo. But, unfortunately, until now, people know little about this unusual bird, which is extremely difficult to study. The cuckoo is a cautious and secretive bird. Not everyone has seen her live. And in flight, it is so similar to a hawk that non-specialists constantly confuse them.

The cuckoo is a migratory bird, it migrates to tropical Africa for the winter. But an interesting thing: most birds make their flights in flocks, but no one has seen a flock of cuckoos. In the autumn they disappear imperceptibly, the older generation earlier, the younger ones later. They usually fly at night and, most likely, alone.

Cuckoos feed on various insects, which they eat almost all day in large quantities. Cuckoos are of great benefit by eating hairy caterpillars covered in poison. Other birds ignore such a treat. If in some forest area there are more cuckoos than usual, this is a sure sign that it is in this area that a particularly dangerous invasion of caterpillars is taking place. Eyewitnesses saw how some of the cuckoos devoured ten caterpillars per minute! So for the forest, the cuckoo is a very useful bird, because by destroying millions of pests over the summer, it completely atones for its "guilt" of killing innocent chicks of other species.

Males differ from females only in color. They are predominantly gray in color, with a darker back and wings, and orange legs. Longitudinal alternating black and white stripes on chest and belly. Females are more brown-red in color, stripes almost all over the body, the cuckoo seems to be ruffled. The length of the bird is up to 40 cm, weight 100 - 130 grams. The tail has a rounded shape, rather long - 18 cm. The length of the wing is 20 cm, and the wingspan is 60 cm. The eyes are large, the beak is slightly curved and rather strong. The fingers of the cuckoo are tenacious, two facing forward and two back. Thanks to this, it deftly moves along the branches of trees.

On the territory of Russia, cuckoos live almost everywhere, with the exception of the real tundra, thanks to the support of more than four dozen species of main bird educators - these are different types redstart, warblers, wagtails, warblers, buntings, skates, nightingales. To date, there are about 150 species of birds to which the cuckoo tosses its eggs into the nest. And interestingly, in the nest of the host species, the cuckoo egg is practically indistinguishable from the eggs of the nest owners. It does not stand out in shell color, shape, and often also in size! For example, in the nests of the thrush warbler or the black-fronted shrike, it is often impossible to visually identify the cuckoo egg until the cuckoo hatches. Theoretically, this should not be, but in practice it is observed everywhere. Attempts to explain this phenomenon remain unsuccessful to this day. Moreover, the coloring and pattern on the shell of a cuckoo egg quite accurately repeats the coloring and pattern elements of the eggs of the host species, not only externally, but also in the thickness of the shell! The latter circumstance is inexplicable from the standpoint of natural selection, since birds simply cannot see and appreciate this, and during experiments, many birds accepted other people's eggs even with a different shell color.


Redthroat nest with cuckoo egg	Bunting Nest with Cuckoo Egg

Thrush warbler nest with cuckoo egg in the background	Nigella nest with cuckoo egg

To lay an egg in someone else's nest, the cuckoo uses the help of a male, which with its plumage surprisingly resembles a hawk. The male begins to fly around the selected nest, and the bird, seeing this false hawk, leaves it in fear. Then the cuckoo, quickly flying up to the empty nest and throwing out one master's egg, puts its own in its place. The returning bird sees that all the eggs are in place and continues to incubate.

Having distributed all the eggs in other people's nests, the cuckoo calms down. And the male cuckoo during the period of feeding the chick will carefully guard the area where the female has laid her eggs.

In the nests of foster birds, the cuckoo egg is practically not distinguished by either the color of the shell or the pattern. And interestingly, often even in the same locality, different female cuckoos specialize in nests of only “their” species. Such cuckoo populations, closely tied to specific species, are called ecological races. And the entire cuckoo population in its vast range breaks up into many separate settlements - ecological races.

In mating relationships, the cuckoo is characterized by polygyny, that is, when a large area of \u200b\u200bthe male includes several areas of females. The male during the day flies around his possessions and alternately visits the females. And the female during the breeding season adheres to a specific area of \u200b\u200b2-4 hectares, on which her parent species nest.

The formation of an egg in a cuckoo starts at the sight of a caregiver's nest under construction. And after 7-9 days, the cuckoo lays the finished egg in this pre-looked nest of future cuckoo tutors. As a rule, by this time their own eggs are in the nest of the owners. She, having taken in her beak one egg from the laying of the owners, sits directly on the nest and in a matter of seconds she lays her egg. In cases of death of the intended nest, the cuckoo is forced to lay an egg either on the ground or in another nest that has turned up. A delay of an egg ready for laying in the oviduct of the cuckoo is possible for 1-3 days. The next egg in the cuckoo begins to form with the discovery of the next educator's nest under construction. Thus, the female cuckoo in the summer season lays one egg in 2-5 nests of caregivers. The cuckoo usually hatches first in the nest, then other chicks hatch. The cuckoo chick is naked, usually somewhat larger than other chicks, it weighs about 3 g.

Another no less interesting feature and the riddle in the behavior of the cuckoo that has just emerged from the egg lies in the fact that, while still blind, deaf and completely naked, he solves his housing problems by throwing eggs or chicks of the owners out of the nest. For this, the cuckoo is unjustly condemned by people. It's simple: the cuckoo replaces several chicks of another species, which has more numerous offspring. The next day after hatching, the cuckoo begins to show a throwing reflex: everything that is in the nest, the cuckoo tries to throw out. It is most active when there are no host birds in the nest, and its "half" brothers and sisters are inactive, since in the absence of adult birds they become numb when the temperature in the nest drops. On the lower back of the cuckoo there is a special depression. The bare skin in this area, as well as on the back and sides of his body, is very sensitive. When touched, the cuckoo immediately manifests an ejection reflex: the cuckoo spreads its legs wide and, resting its head on the bottom of the nest, tries to crawl under the egg or chick. When he succeeds, the cuckoo with a few pushes of the body advances the victim on the back. Holding an egg or a chick on its wide, somewhat concave back with wings thrown far up, the cuckoo moves back to the side of the nest. Having reached the inner wall of the nest, it rises on outstretched legs and with a sharp push of the body throws the object on its back over the edge of the nest. Thus, within 3-4 days, the cuckoo usually gets rid of the "half" brothers and sisters. On the 5th day of life, the cuckoo's ejection reflex fades, and if by that time other chicks remain in the nest, they are no longer in danger of being thrown out of the nest. However, the chicks of host birds remaining in the nest together with the cuckoo rarely survive: the rapidly growing cuckoo intercepts all the food brought by adult birds, and the rest of the chicks die of starvation.

Little cuckoo, already noticeably outgrown his foster mother - a reed warbler

But, despite all these tricks, for every 5 cuckoo eggs thrown, only one (!) cuckoo will fly out of the nest. Because some birds (wrens, warblers) upon finding someone else's egg, usually leave their nests, even with a full clutch. Others (redstarts) weave a new nest litter, covering the masonry with a cuckoo egg, and proceed to a new masonry. Many species of birds simply throw someone else's egg out of the nest.

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Detachment cuckoo- Cuculiformes, Family Cuckoo - Cuculidae, Genus Cuckoos - Cuculus

Description of Buturlin. Since childhood, each of us has known the call of an inconspicuous gray bird, this sound “dull and simple”, repeating so monotonously and yet so attractive. In the spring noise of the forest, in the ringing chorus of small birds, the cuckoo seems to weave its own special musical pattern, a little sad and dreamy. This bird is mentioned more often than many others in folk songs, beliefs and fairy tales, its melody is often used in romances and symphonies by composers of many nations.
“The green forest around is young and dewy, and there is silence in the forest; and in the midst of silence - only the voice of the cuckoo. The vociferous bastard! Respond, will I live to see a new spring?
In the old proverbs of the Russian peasantry, the cuckoo, with its melancholy singing, was the embodiment of grief and sadness: “The cuckoo cuckoos - it tells grief”, “Not the cuckoo cuckoo, but the wife is grieving.” This bird is also mentioned in other proverbs, which speaks of its great popularity: “I exchanged a cuckoo for a hawk”, “You can’t hatch chickens on cuckoo eggs”, “The cuckoo does not cuckle on St. Peter’s Day”, and so on.
By voice, the cuckoo is familiar to everyone, but few have seen it and know it by appearance: the cuckoo is quite careful, and often it is not possible to approach it closer than 50-80 meters. But there is one good remedy, which helps to get to know this bird better: by imitating the cuckoo, you can lure almost every screaming male towards you. To do this, you need to learn how to shout out a low, throaty, but loud “oo-uu” (almost without “k”), as the cuckoo does, which is not at all difficult for people with even a small ear for music.
Hearing the cry of an opponent, the male cuckoo immediately flies to his call, hoping to find a female near him. There are fewer female cuckoos than males, so there is always a strong enmity between the latter. In an easy flight, spreading its tail half-spread like a fan in the air, almost without flapping its wings, the cuckoo rushes through the trees, dodging the skates chasing it. She sat on the top of a birch, lifted her tail, hung her wings, throwing back her head, puffed out the gray feathers of her goiter - and now a loud hoarse “cuckoo” was now heard very close to you. You cackle again, encouraging her, she falls silent, then answers with some cooing “ur-ur ...” and with a loud laughing cry flies even closer. Now her yellow legs and wide yellow mouth are perfectly visible, from which this strong, less pleasant cry breaks out; a gray transverse pattern on the abdomen and light spots on the feathers of a light mobile tail are visible. The cuckoo turns to the right and to the left, at times bends down when angry flycatchers swoop in, and again caws without respite. Sometimes, excited by the voice of an elusive rival, she doubles the first syllable of the cry: “ko-ko-ku, ko-ko-ku ...”, the rumbling breaks from the tree and floats low over the bushes, then returns to the old place, and again in the quiet boro, without stopping, her song is buzzing. Often in the spring, walking through the forest, I managed to lead two or three cuckoos along for several kilometers, beckoning them with a cry. But as soon as the ringing, cheerful trill “kli-kli-kli-kli-kli-kli ...” was heard on the side of the road, which the female calls the male behind her, my “guides” fell behind, and I continued to walk alone.
V middle lane European part of Russia cuckoo arrives late April or early May. At first, only males appear, and after a week or two, females join them. At the time of the arrival of males, the forest is not yet dressed in foliage, there are often cold nights - the cuckoos are silent. But in warm weather, they begin to cuckoo immediately upon arrival. In the spring, hunters waiting for wood grouses on the currents often hear the call at night in complete darkness and the predawn silence of the forest. It then sounds somehow especially solemn and beautiful. In the midst of spring, the cuckoo screams almost around the clock - to the point of hoarseness, longer and harder than many forest birds sing. By the end of July, in the middle lane, the kukovanie stops completely and resumes only in the next spring.
The cuckoo is very unpretentious in the choice of summer habitats - it meets and in coniferous and deciduous forests, in a strip of crooked forest-tundra, in small steppe forests and ravines overgrown with bushes, high in tori on the border of forests, and even along reeds near lakes, if there are many warblers there. For her, the features of the forest are not as important as the abundance of insectivorous birds, to which she throws her eggs. She avoids dense coniferous forests because there are few insectivorous birds in them; here it is replaced by a smaller deaf cuckoo.
One of the most interesting features of cuckoo biology is “ nest parasitism”, laying eggs in other people's nests, in which all cares for incubation and feeding of the chick are performed by “foster parents”. This remarkable feature of the life of cuckoos was already known to the ancient Greeks, but only in recent decades have particularly valuable observations been collected on it. Each female cuckoo occupies a certain area on which she looks out for nests of birds. At the same time, some cuckoos use, for example, the nests of only white wagtails, others - only skates, others - warblers; scientists believe that all cuckoos are divided into special "biological tribes", each of which has adapted to parasitize certain "hosts" - species of small birds. In Europe, cuckoos toss eggs to several dozen species, ranging from tiny kinglets and wrens to nightingales and swifts, but of this number, only twenty species suffer from parasitism especially strongly.
The cuckoo's egg begins to mature after it finds a nest in a selected bird species during construction. The egg stays in the oviduct for four to five days; during this time, the birds have time to finish the construction. The cuckoo lays eggs during the day (unlike most other species), which helps her to seize the moment when the owners of the nest are absent. She lays an egg either directly in the nest or on the ground and then transfers it in her mouth to the pre-noticed nesting site of the host birds. Each cuckoo lays from 9 to 15 eggs (sometimes over 20), with fairly large intervals, so that young cuckoos can be found in different dates summer. Cuckoo eggs, in comparison with its size, are very small and approach the eggs of host birds in size. They are very variable in color, moreover, each female lays eggs of only a certain color. One is blue, throwing them into nests with eggs of the same color, the other is gray, the third is spotted. For example, in the nest of a garden warbler, a grayish testicle of this bird 23.6 mm long and a grayish cuckoo egg - 23.3 mm were found (in the Moscow region); there are three brownish testicles of this species and one brownish testicle of a cuckoo, which specialized in parasitism in skates, in the nest of the skate. But there are often exceptions, when, for example, a blue cuckoo egg appears in the nest of a horse or warbler.
The cuckoo does not bother birds that feed their chicks with grains (hawk-nosed, greenfinch), but sometimes it makes the mistake of throwing eggs to tits in too narrow hollows, from where its large chick cannot get out and must die.
Searching for other people's nests and throwing their eggs into them (usually but one, less often two) are limited to all the cares of the female cuckoo about offspring. The embryo warmed by the mother hen develops very quickly: cuckoo comes out of the egg after twelve and a half days of incubation, that is, a little earlier than the chicks of most of our small birds hatch. The cuckoo outruns the chicks of foster parents in growth; it is of great importance in his life. Ten to twelve hours after hatching from the egg, he begins to develop a special need to throw out various objects that touch his back from the nest (the cuckoo has many sensitive nerve endings in the bare skin of the back). A warm egg will fall on its back, in which a chick is already moving, - the cuckoo will place it in a recess on the sacrum and, holding it with its wings, will crawl to the edge of the nest. Here, rising on his legs, resting his head against the nest, a naked, blind robber throws an egg to the ground with a sharp push. So he does with little chicks. During the first three or four days of life, when this reflex is expressed in the cuckoo, the foster chick manages to throw out all 5-10 eggs or chicks of its owners from the nest. Birds feed small chicks only in the nest, so all discarded cubs die.
If the cuckoo lays an egg in a nest with a hatched clutch and the cuckoo stuns somewhat, then most of the chicks or the entire brood remain intact. It takes a lot of work for parents to feed such a family.
The cuckoo stays in the nest for about twenty days. At first he is completely silent, later he begins to squeak loudly, continuously demanding food. He also squeaks after leaving the nest, using the work of foster parents for two or three weeks. It is strange to see a large, in reddish plumage, well-flying cuckoo, around which two tiny warblers or flycatchers tirelessly fuss. The cuckoo is several times their height, it opens its mouth so wide that it seems that it is about to swallow the bird along with the caterpillars it has brought. It is difficult for a poor chiffchaff to reach with its beak the wide throat of its insatiable pet, so it surpasses it in growth. Sometimes you can see how the bird sits on the shoulders of the cuckoo and hurriedly pushes food from above, hurrying for new prey.
The voracity of the growing cuckoo is very great. A case is known when a young bird of this species, fed in a cage, ate 18 lizards, 39 large green grasshoppers, 3 dead head butterfly pupae, 43 cabbage caterpillars, 5 cockchafer larvae, 4 cross spiders, 50 flour worms and a considerable number of ant "eggs".

The cuckoo is a bird that has gained universal fame due to the peculiarities of breeding chicks.

Despite the fact that cuckoos are considered the worst parents in the world, this is not entirely true. These creatures can watch a pair of another species to see if they can feed the baby cuckoo. In addition, not all birds are irresponsible parents who toss their eggs. Some build houses themselves and are very responsible in the process of feeding young animals. There are a number of species that toss eggs, for example, the cuckoo duck.

What a cuckoo looks like, people know almost everywhere. About 140 species have been described so far. All of them have their own characteristics of life. The family includes 6 genera, including:

real;
variegated;
running;
coccyzinae;
curtain;
larvae.

Some species of birds do not at all resemble the usual ones, which are distinguished by their variegated color. The common cuckoo is the most famous. The description of the bird was given even before the formation of ornithology as a separate science.

The body of an ordinary cuckoo from nose to tail reaches about 40 cm. Its weight rarely exceeds 100 g. The wing size is usually no more than half the body length, that is, within 20 cm. Due to the long tail and short wings, birds can maneuver even in dense thicket.

The body of an ordinary cuckoo from nose to tail reaches about 40 cm. Its weight rarely exceeds 100 g.

In spite of common features body structure, the colors of the representatives of the family are extremely diverse. The very common common cuckoo has a gray-blue plumage on its back and upper wings. The tail is variegated, as it has a pattern in the form horizontal stripes. The breast is light gray with thin dark and brown streaks. Coloration varies greatly. For example, the bronze cuckoo has a characteristic bronze feather color. This allows her to better camouflage. The golden cuckoo is distinguished by yellow-gold plumage with small patches of black and beige.

Various plumage color options are the result of adaptation to the natural environment. The legs of almost all species of real cuckoos are short and unsuitable for long walks. Birds lead a predominantly solitary lifestyle.

Despite the fact that these creatures are distinguished by their modest body size, they have an excellent appetite. Their diet includes:

insect larvae;
mosquitoes;
beetles;
caterpillars;
small bird eggs.

Gluttony is due to the fact that these birds lead a migratory lifestyle and migrate for the entire winter period from northern regions to Africa and South Asia. To make a flight, they need to accumulate a lot of subcutaneous fat for a favorable summer period.

It is worth noting that there are representatives of the cuckoo family that can completely change the opinion about this family. Ani is a prime example. This species not only builds nests, but is also a social bird. Usually several couples build a house on the same tree at once, and each bird watches not only its own eggs, but also those of others. Outwardly, these birds are unlike their frivolous relatives.

Outwardly, they resemble a mixture of a crow and a parrot. Their feathers are blue-black. Unlike other members of the family, Ani run much better than they fly. This bird of the cuckoo stalks a grazing herbivore on foot, picking up insects that have been frightened by the hooves and want to quickly leave the dangerous place.

Unlike other members of the family, Ani run much better than they fly.

Caught insects are entirely fed to young animals, so they cannot be called bad parents.

Various plumage color options are the result of adaptation to the natural environment.

Gallery: cuckoo (25 photos)

What happens if a cuckoo throws an egg (video)

Distribution area of the bird

Many natural environments favored by these birds. The habitat of various members of the family covers almost the entire globe. Cuckoos are not found only in Antarctica and Antarctica. Many described species live most of the year in North and South America, as well as Eurasia. Many of them are found in areas with a warm climate, where vast tropical and subtropical forests grow.

Deciduous forests are considered favorite places for cuckoos. Cuckoos are kept mainly in the upper tiers of trees, where they can find food. Only a few species prefer to settle in the forest-steppes.

Species that live in tropical forests are sedentary. Birds that hatch chicks in the temperate zone go to India, Africa, South China and the Sunda Islands for wintering. Common in northern America, the yellow-billed cuckoo migrates to Argentina. Bronze and New Zealand varieties go to the Pacific islands, which have a milder climate. During their seasonal migrations, birds cover over 2 thousand km.

nightingale;
swallows;
forest lark;
hemp;
tap dance;
oatmeal;
sparrow
gray flycatcher;
shrikes;
coinage;
finch;
coot redstarts;
skate;
warblers;
hawkers;
black-headed warbler;
song thrush;
warblers;
hawkweed;
bluethroat.

Some adoptive parents have already developed immunity and throw away other people's eggs, so, despite the fact that cuckoos throw them to certain species, you still sometimes have to change your preferences.

The cuckoo follows the house she likes. When several eggs are laid in it by the owners, she waits for the moment when no one is around, swallows one of them and lays her own. This minimizes the risk of being detected. Many cuckoos have eggs that are similar in shape and color to those of the birds in whose nest they want to throw their offspring. Sometimes the male helps to throw offspring. He can defiantly circle in order to force the birds to attack him in order to drive him away from the nest. At this time, the female cuckoo lays an egg. This is a very effective tactic, usually giving a positive result.

Common cuckoo (video)

The behavior of the cuckoo in the nest

If the birds do not notice the change and accept someone else's egg, the cuckoo cub is born before other chicks. He is blind and naked, but instincts make him get rid of other eggs in the nest. As a rule, the cuckoo, resting on the egg with its back, gradually pushes it out of the house. If his stepbrother managed to hatch, the cuckoo will still push him out. Such cruelty is due to the fact that his parents will not be able to feed him, taking into account the voracity of the growing cuckoo.

Thus, getting rid of competitors, he becomes the main one. The cuckoo squeaks all daylight hours, demanding food. The birds that are his adoptive parents cannot resist this, so they search for food without rest. The cuckoo chick becomes an adult for emergence 40 days after hatching. The cuckoo stays with her parents and demands food from them, usually until the time comes to go to the wintering place.

Attention, only TODAY!

Cuckoos feed on various insects, which they eat almost all day in large quantities. Cuckoos are of great benefit by eating furry caterpillars covered in poison. Other birds ignore such a treat. If in some forest area there are more cuckoos than usual, this is a sure sign that it is in this area that a particularly dangerous invasion of caterpillars is taking place. Eyewitnesses saw how some of the cuckoos devoured ten caterpillars per minute! So for the forest, the cuckoo is a very useful bird, because by destroying millions of pests over the summer, it completely atones for its "guilt" of killing innocent chicks of other species.

On the territory of Russia, cuckoos live almost everywhere, with the exception of the real tundra, thanks to the support of more than four dozen species of main educators - these are different types of redstarts, warblers, wagtails, warblers, buntings, skates, nightingales. To date, there are about 150 species of birds to which the cuckoo tosses its eggs into the nest. And interestingly, in the nest of the host species, the cuckoo egg is practically indistinguishable from the eggs of the nest owners. It does not stand out in shell color, shape, and often also in size! For example, in the nests of the thrush warbler or the black-fronted shrike, it is often impossible to visually identify the cuckoo egg until the cuckoo hatches. Theoretically, this should not be, but in practice it is observed everywhere. Attempts to explain this phenomenon remain unsuccessful to this day. Moreover, the coloring and pattern on the shell of a cuckoo egg quite accurately repeats the coloring and pattern elements of the eggs of the host species, not only externally, but also in the thickness of the shell! The latter circumstance is inexplicable from the standpoint of natural selection, since birds simply cannot see and appreciate this, and during experiments, many birds accepted other people's eggs even with a different shell color.


Redthroat nest with cuckoo egg	Bunting Nest with Cuckoo Egg

Thrush warbler nest with cuckoo egg in the background	Nigella nest with cuckoo egg

Another no less interesting feature and mystery in the behavior of a cuckoo that has just emerged from an egg is that, while still blind, deaf and completely naked, it solves its housing problems by throwing eggs or chicks of its owners out of the nest. For this, the cuckoo is unjustly condemned by people. It's simple: the cuckoo replaces several chicks of another species, which has more numerous offspring. The next day after hatching, the cuckoo begins to show a throwing reflex: everything that is in the nest, the cuckoo tries to throw out. It is most active when there are no host birds in the nest, and its "half" brothers and sisters are inactive, since in the absence of adult birds they become numb when the temperature in the nest drops. On the lower back of the cuckoo there is a special depression. The bare skin in this area, as well as on the back and sides of his body, is very sensitive. When touched, the cuckoo immediately manifests an ejection reflex: the cuckoo spreads its legs wide and, resting its head on the bottom of the nest, tries to crawl under the egg or chick. When he succeeds, the cuckoo with a few pushes of the body advances the victim on the back. Holding an egg or a chick on its wide, somewhat concave back with wings thrown far up, the cuckoo moves back to the side of the nest. Having reached the inner wall of the nest, it rises on outstretched legs and with a sharp push of the body throws the object on its back over the edge of the nest. Thus, within 3-4 days, the cuckoo usually gets rid of the "half" brothers and sisters. On the 5th day of life, the cuckoo's ejection reflex fades, and if by that time other chicks remain in the nest, they are no longer in danger of being thrown out of the nest. However, the chicks of host birds remaining in the nest together with the cuckoo rarely survive: the rapidly growing cuckoo intercepts all the food brought by adult birds, and the rest of the chicks die of starvation.

Little cuckoo, already noticeably outgrown his foster mother - a reed warbler