Interesting facts about the life of a cuckoo. Interesting facts about the cuckoo. Why does the cuckoo throw eggs into other people's nests?
The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) does not build its own nests because the maturation of its follicles, as it turns out, is very extended. And even if she sat on the nest, the first chick would have already hatched by the time the last egg matured and the female was ready to lay it.
In this state of affairs, one would have to choose either to feed this single chick or to incubate the rest; it turns out that the entire brood is doomed to death. It is this fact about the cuckoo that justifies it. Although some American cuckoos feast on the eggs of small birds, they do not throw their own eggs, but build their own nests and hatch the chicks themselves.
It is a proven fact that during the breeding season, the male cuckoo guards the “nesting site” of those birds where the female must lay eggs, since if there are two eggs of these birds in one nest, then the chicks will most likely also both die from lack of food. Or the stronger one will simply throw the opponent out of the nest. By feeding one chick, the foster parents already bring themselves to the point of exhaustion; small birds cannot handle two.
The American yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) incubates its eggs itself, but due to the fact that incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid, and the chicks hatch unevenly, both parents take care of them. Eggs are incubated by both parents and cuckoo cuckoos that live in Africa, Australia, and the Malay Islands. In addition, these interesting cuckoos They run nimbly, and the chicks also crawl along branches, unlike their other relatives, almost like the chicks of hoatzins. The nests of clawed cuckoos are covered with a vault and have two openings (entrance and exit).
Biologists have collected very interesting facts about larval-eating cuckoos (Crotophaga ani) living in South America. They live in societies, often staying close to settlements. They hatch eggs and raise chicks together - several in the same nest, in which many females lay eggs.
The European great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius), unlike the common cuckoo, lays from four to eight eggs in one nest, since its victims are large birds, usually corvids - magpies and jays.
The smallest cuckoo is the golden cuckoo, and the largest is the toucan. Lives in Australia and New Guinea. And California plantain cuckoos (Geococcyx californianus) run nimbly on the ground and can reach speeds that are as fast as a racehorse. Mexicans keep them at home - they quickly become tame and provide services to their owners by eating mice, small snakes, beetles and insects.
As usual, a little biology
The common cuckoo (lat. Cuculus canorus) is a bird from the subclass New Palates, family cuckoos, or cuckoos (lat. Cuculidae).
Outwardly similar to a small hawk. Modern scientists emphasize only the superficial similarity of the cuckoo with hawk birds: for example, in the species described, the shape of the head, the details of the plumage and the flight pattern are somewhat reminiscent of those of the sparrowhawk. In a flying bird, you can notice dark transverse streaks on the belly and lower part of the wing, like a hawk, but its tail is noticeably longer and beveled along the edges in the shape of a wedge, rather than cut in a straight line. A cuckoo sitting on a tree, unlike hawks, holds its body horizontally, often with lowered wings and a raised tail. The bird's wings are pointed and, like the tail, are quite long. The legs, on the contrary, are very short - for this reason, only the toes grasping the support are visible to an observer from the outside. Like other related species, the legs of the common cuckoo have a so-called zygodactyl structure: two toes point forward and two back, like those of owls. This position allows you to better stay on a vertical plane, but makes it difficult to move on the surface of the earth.
The total length reaches 32-34 cm, wingspan 55-65 cm, weight up to 80-190 g. In an adult male, the entire upper side of the body, including the head, is dark gray. The throat and crop are also gray, but of a lighter ash hue. The belly is white, with dark transverse stripes. Tails with white tips and spots along the shafts. The color of the plumage of females is of two types. The most common one repeats the details of the male’s plumage in such a way that it is very difficult to distinguish between individuals of different sexes in the field; a specialist can see a brownish tint on the back and sometimes sparse buffy feathers on the throat and craw. The second type of coloration, on the contrary, makes the female completely different from the male. Representatives of this phase are rusty-red above and white below, with dark transverse stripes on both sides. There are no streaks on the back only in the lumbar region.
The incubation period of the common cuckoo is 11.5-12.5 days. If the egg was thrown at the beginning of incubation, then the chick hatches several days earlier than its chicks of its adoptive parents, and this circumstance gives it a noticeable advantage in the struggle for survival. A newly born cuckoo is naked, without traces of embryonic down, the skin is pinkish-orange, the oral cavity is orange; weight varies from 2.5 to 3.6 g. Just like newly hatched passerine chicks, the cuckoo's eyelids are tightly closed, but the ear canals remain open. The cuckoo chick methodically throws all the eggs or chicks of its foster parents out of their nest. It is much larger than its foster parents, so it is assumed that it seeks to monopolize all the food brought by the owners of the nest. The cuckoo pushes other eggs over the edge of the nest. If the host chicks hatch before the cuckoo chick, when it is born, it will similarly push all the chicks out of the nest. At day 14, the common cuckoo chick is approximately three times the size of an adult reed warbler.
The breeding area of the common cuckoo covers all climatic zones from forest-tundra to deserts and subtropical forests of the Palearctic region, all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It is a common and sometimes abundant species almost everywhere. Being typical migratory bird, the bird spends the winter in Africa and tropical latitudes of Asia.
The common cuckoo is almost universally considered a migratory bird that does not stay in its breeding areas for more than three to four months a year. At the same time, information about its wintering areas is fragmentary and sometimes contradictory, which is associated with an extremely secretive way of life. Birds are capable of covering up to 3,600 km in one flight without stopping to rest, and the total distance of winter stations from nesting sites reaches 5-6 thousand km or more. Winters in Africa and Southeast Asia.
In nature, cuckoos live for about 10 years.
- The word “cuckoo” comes from the sonorous “ku-ku” pronounced by the bird. Its name is similar among many nations: kukuvica - in Bulgaria, kukačka - in the Czech Republic, Kuckuck - in Germany, coucou - in France, cucul - in Romania, cuculo - in Italy, cuckoo - in Great Britain.
- The most famous fact about the cuckoo: it does not build its own nests and lays its eggs in others.
- In flight, the cuckoo's coloration resembles a bird of prey. Thanks to this, the male cuckoo scares the bird that owns the nest, and at this time the female throws an egg.
- It only takes 10-16 seconds for the cuckoo to lay an egg in the nest.
- The thrown eggs almost match the color of the eggs of the nest owners. A female cuckoo can lay from 8 to 25 eggs in one season, however, for every 5 eggs laid, only one chick survives.
- The period from laying eggs to hatching of chicks is shorter for the cuckoo than for those species in whose nests they are located.
- It is a proven fact that during the breeding season, the male cuckoo guards the “nesting site” of those birds where the female must lay eggs, since if there are two eggs of these birds in one nest, then the chicks will most likely also both die from lack of food.
In particular, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in his “History of Animals,” comparing two birds, referred to the belief that both of them are different forms of the same creature, capable of transformation
- Cuckoo's tears (spotted orchis / Lychnis flos cuculi) were often used as a magical remedy to provide good relations between spouses. They used the root of the herb to guess about the sex of the unborn child; young women also drank a decoction from this root with the words: “Kokushka, give me a son or daughter.”
- In both Denmark and Sweden, the bird is tortured for longevity; in Japan, it is considered a traveler to the next world, closely associated with death. And she cries for misfortune, for pestilence, and for fire.
- The first of April, known to us as “Fools’ Day,” is called “Cuckoo Day” in Scotland.
- During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. Finnish snipers firing from treetops were called cuckoos. Cuckoo is also the common name for steam locomotives of the "Ku" series ("Kolomensky reinforced"), produced in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.
For those who are too lazy to read
But what do you know about cuckoos? Most will say that they say “cuckoo” and by these sounds a person sometimes determines “how old he is.” I offer several facts that will expand your knowledge about these difficult birds.
Sometimes cuckoo eggs end up in the wrong nest. This happens if there are few bird nests nearby or the female cuckoo is young and does not have enough experience. Such chicks usually die. Most often, the cuckoo chooses lonely nests and “synchronizes” the process of the appearance of its eggs with the cubs of the nurse bird. When a cuckoo wants to lay an egg in the nest of another bird, it scares it away by imitating the cry of a hawk. By the way, the mass of a cuckoo egg is only 2-3 grams, which is very small compared to other birds - everything is done for mobility and ease of throwing into other nests. And even despite all the tricks, only about half of the chicks survive - the rest are thrown out of the nest by the returning owners. And the surviving little cuckoos behave accordingly - they, having gained a little strength, simply throw other chicks out of the nest, including their brothers, if they find themselves in the same nest.
Cuckoos eat caterpillars, dragonflies, beetles, flies, larvae and snails. Before migration, they intensively gain weight (gain up to 100%), because the birds will have to fly about 5000 km. Cuckoos migrate mainly at night, in small flocks, from Europe to Africa, across the Mediterranean Sea, at an altitude of about 300 m.
Great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) and others large species, from 40 cm in height, throw their eggs into the nests of birds of the raven family, usually jays and magpies. “Caring” parents closely monitor the fate of their offspring in another nest, and if life is not satisfactory (their chick is thrown out of the nest), they destroy the nest, eating the eggs and chicks. The little emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx) uses the nests of birds of the weaver family to raise its offspring.
Among cuckoos there are also less aggressive species. For example, cuckoos of the Crotophaga family in tropical Africa do not throw their eggs into the nests of other birds. They build family nests, where the entire flock (about 20 individuals) lays eggs. Afterwards, old birds look after them, hatching and raising their chicks - why not a hostel?
Many of you have seen Disney cartoons about a coyote and a bird constantly running away from him. The bird's name is roadrunner, and it also belongs to the cuckoo family - Geococcyx californianus. This bird lives in the deserts of Mexico and Central America and runs really fast - with its low weight it can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h! But in real life, and not in the cartoon, the coyote will easily catch up with her - the animal’s speed reaches 56 km/h.
These are such difficult birds... And nothing can be done - nature arranged it this way, which means they exist for a reason and have received the right to further development. It’s just strange why people use the cuckoo’s song to count their remaining years? Maybe someone can tell me?
The story about the cuckoo for children can be used in preparation for the lesson. The message about the cuckoo can be supplemented with interesting facts.
Report about the cuckoo
The cuckoo is a bird known to almost everyone because of its relationship with its offspring.
Description of the cuckoo
There are from 140 to 200 representatives of the cuckoo family. Bird sizes vary from less than 20 cm to 60-70 cm. Most cuckoos have a body length of no more than 40 cm and a weight of about 100 g.
The beak of these birds average size, slightly curved downwards, with smooth edges. Thanks to the wide slit of the beak, birds can catch insects in flight, as well as swallow large prey. Birds' eyes are brown, red, yellow, hazel or brown. Some species have a crest on the head.
The bird's body is thin. The tail is long, but its dimensions do not exceed the length of the wing. It can be stepped or rounded. The wings of cuckoos are usually long and sharp. The short legs of cuckoos can be yellow, orange or red.
The colors include gray, white, brown, red, rusty and ocher. The body is generally darker on top, while the belly and undertail are lighter or white. Often the plumage is not monochromatic, but has streaks; more or less pronounced stripes may be present on the throat and belly.
The average cuckoo lives 5-10 years. But there are cases where some individuals lived to be 35 or even 40 years old.
What does a cuckoo eat?
The cuckoo's diet consists of insects, especially larvae. Her favorite dish is furry caterpillars, which other birds “disdain” (the hairs of these caterpillars, when digesting food, are firmly stuck into the walls of the stomach). And by eating such caterpillars, the cuckoo helps nature.
Cuckoo: breeding
Cuckoos do not build nests and do not hatch chicks. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Having laid an egg on the ground, the cuckoo takes it in its beak and, flying unnoticed to the nest of some bird, places it there. She lays only one egg in each alien nest.
It has been established that cuckoos throw their eggs into the nests of about 170 species of birds. The color of cuckoo eggs can be solid or variegated, brown, white, blue, green, etc. It completely matches the color of the eggs of the birds that the cuckoo throws to its children.
Why does the cuckoo throw eggs into other people's nests?
The cuckoo lays eggs for a very long time - several weeks and their number can be quite significant - up to 20-25. Of course, if she had incubated it herself, she would have had to sit in the nest all summer. Chicks of different sizes would not live together in the same nest. And their parents would not be able to feed such a number of gluttons.
The cuckoo flies to Africa in winter. Birds most often fly not in flocks, but alone.
There are species of cuckoos that hatch and feed their chicks themselves.
To place its egg among strangers, the cuckoo throws out one of the stranger’s eggs from the clutch and replaces it with its own. She can also throw out all the hatched eggs from someone else's nest, forcing the birds to lay eggs again, and then throw her egg into a fresh clutch.
Newborn cuckoo chicks, only a few hours old, throw out of the nest everything that is there, namely: chicks or eggs of the nest owners. This fate awaits all the chicks and eggs until the cuckoo is left alone in the nest. He is raised alone by foster parents, sometimes much smaller in size than their voracious foundling.
In some species of cuckoos, the chicks do not throw out their half-brothers, but trample them or deprive them of food.
For many peoples, the cuckoo is a symbol of suffering, widowhood, misfortune and longing for the past. She can predict an unhappy marriage, a bad harvest, or lack of money. In other versions, on the contrary, this bird predicts a happy marriage, a rich harvest, long summers and is a symbol of spring. It is believed that the cuckoo flies south first and returns from there, because it holds the keys to Iria (Vyria), a mythical warm southern country where birds and snakes winter, and where the souls of the dead are found.
We hope the information presented about the cuckoo helped you. You can leave your report about the cuckoo using the comment form.
