A report on Common cuckoo

Common cuckoo in flight
A Eurasian cuckoo (C. c. bakeri) from Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in East Sikkim, India.
Cuckoo adult (top) mimics sparrowhawk, giving female time to lay eggs parasitically
This Eurasian reed warbler is raising a common cuckoo.
Cuckoo eggs mimicking smaller eggs, in this case of reed warbler
Cuculus canorus canorus in a nest Acrocephalus arundinaceus - MHNT
Cuculus canorus bangsi in a nest Phoenicurus moussieri - MHNT
A chick of the common cuckoo in the nest of a tree pipit
Golden cuckoo in the coat of arms of Suomenniemi

Member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.

- Common cuckoo

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Cuckoo

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Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes.

Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes.

The chestnut-breasted malkoha is typical of the Phaenicophaeinae in having brightly coloured skin around the eye.
Some species, like the Asian emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculatus) exhibit iridescent plumage.
The great lizard cuckoo is a large insular cuckoo of the Caribbean
Chestnut-winged cuckoo in Singapore
The greater roadrunner is rarely seen flying.
Unlike most cuckoos, the Asian koel is mostly frugivorous
Reed warbler raising the young of a common cuckoo
of the brush cuckoo
Blue coua (Coua caerulea)
Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
Rufous-vented ground cuckoo (Neomorphus geoffroyi)
White-browed coucal (Centropus superciliosus)
Golden cuckoo in the coat of arms of Suomenniemi

The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis.

A shiny cowbird chick (left) being fed by a rufous-collared sparrow

Brood parasite

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Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young.

Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young.

A shiny cowbird chick (left) being fed by a rufous-collared sparrow
Eastern phoebe nest with one brown-headed cowbird egg (at bottom left)
Four clutches of reed warbler eggs, each containing one (larger) cuckoo egg
The goldeneye often lays its eggs in the nests of other females.
A Eurasian reed warbler raising a common cuckoo
A black-collared starling feeding an Asian koel
Synodontis multipunctatus
A cuckoo bee from the genus Nomada
Nest of Polistes dominula, host to the cuckoo wasp Polistes sulcifer

Common cuckoo females have been proposed to select hosts with similar egg characteristics to her own.

Common blackbird

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Species of true thrush.

Species of true thrush.

Female of subspecies merula
Historic image of blackbird in Nederlandsche Vogelen (1770)
Male blackbird with earthworm
Adult male feeding on cherries in Lausanne, Switzerland
A male attempting to distract a kestrel close to its nest
"Sing a Song for Sixpence" cover illustration
T. m. cabrerae on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Juvenile T. m. merula in England
Young adult T. m. merula in Oxfordshire
A leucistic adult male in England with much white in the plumage
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
Eggs in a nest
Two chicks in a nest

This species is occasionally a host of parasitic cuckoos, such as the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), but this is minimal because the common blackbird recognizes the adult of the parasitic species and its non-mimetic eggs.

Eurasian sparrowhawk

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Small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.

Small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.

The resemblance of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) to the Eurasian sparrowhawk helps it avoid aggression from the small birds whose nest it seeks to parasitise.
Deciduous woodland is a typical breeding and hunting habitat for the Eurasian sparrowhawk.
A juvenile with the carcass of a common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)
The chicks stay on the nest until they are 24 to 28 days old.
Illustration of an egg at Muséum de Toulouse. The background colour of the eggs changes from light blue to white on storage in collections
In flight as seen from below, showing barring on underparts.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk's natural hunting behaviour can conflict with gamekeepers rearing common pheasants.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk is popular with falconers in Georgia.
An adult male in Slovakia

A study, using stuffed bird models, found that small birds are less likely to approach common cuckoos (a brood parasite) which have barred underparts like the Eurasian sparrowhawk.

Garden warbler

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Common and widespread small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to western Siberia.

Common and widespread small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to western Siberia.

Deciduous woodland is the preferred breeding habitat.
Singing male in England
Painting of an egg
Cuculus canorus canorus in a clutch of Sylvia borin borin - MHNT
The common fig is a popular food prior to migration.
The common cuckoo is a brood parasite of the garden warbler.

It may be host to various fleas, mites and internal parasites, and it is a host of the common cuckoo, a brood parasite.

Oriental cuckoo

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Bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae.

Bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae.

Photographed at Maiala NP, SE Queensland, Australia
Oriental cuckoo in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

The common cuckoo (C. canorus) is very similar in appearance but is slightly bulkier with longer wings and tail and a slightly smaller head and bill.

A sign in a shop window in Italy proclaims these silent clocks make "No Tic Tac", in imitation of the sound of a clock.

Onomatopoeia

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Process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.

Process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.

A sign in a shop window in Italy proclaims these silent clocks make "No Tic Tac", in imitation of the sound of a clock.
According to Musurgia Universalis (1650), the hen makes "to to too", while chicks make "glo glo glo".
A bang flag gun, a novelty item
A sound effect of breaking a door

In English, for example, there is the universal fastener which is named for the sound it makes: the zip (in the UK) or zipper (in the U.S.) Many birds are named after their calls, such as the bobwhite quail, the weero, the morepork, the killdeer, chickadees and jays, the cuckoo, the chiffchaff, the whooping crane, the whip-poor-will, and the kookaburra.

Gens (behaviour)

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In animal behaviour, a gens (pl.

In animal behaviour, a gens (pl.

However, it is believed that in common cuckoos, gens-specific properties are sex-linked and lie on the W chromosome of the female.

Water pipit

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Small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China.

Small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China.

Wintering Anthus spinoletta blakistoni at Tal Chhapar Sanctuary
Conspicuous head markings
In typical breeding habitat
Egg in Museum Wiesbaden
Glacier fleas are a prey item found on snow fields

The water pipit may be hunted by birds of prey, infested by parasites such as fleas, or act as an involuntary host to the common cuckoo, but overall its population is large and stable, and it is therefore evaluated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Song thrush

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Thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic.

Thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic.

A parent feeding chicks in their nest in a New Zealand garden
A Song Thrush in Germany
In flight
Juvenile in New Zealand
Juvenile in a forest near Dombaih, Russia (Caucasus Mountains)
Three eggs in a nest
Broken shells of grove snails on an 'anvil'
In New Zealand
Song thrush in Slovenia

The song thrush is occasionally a host of parasitic cuckoos, such as the common cuckoo, but this is very rare because the thrush recognizes the cuckoo's non-mimetic eggs.