Length: 32-36cm
Wingspan: 54-60cm
Conservation Status: Red
Description: Adult cuckoos have slate-grey head, breast and upperparts, and blackish barring on the underparts and white spots and tips on the tail. The female cuckoo is similar to the male but instead of being grey it is red-brown. Cuckoos' eyes and legs are yellow and the slightly curved bill has a yellow base with a darker tip. Juvenile cuckoos are similar to the female, but with a white patch on the nape and white edges and tips of its dark feathers.
Nesting: Cuckoos are brood parasites which means they lay their eggs in other birds' nests such as dunnocks and robins and leaves the host birds to incubate and rear its young. The female cuckoo will use a particular host species nest and will lay its eggs with similar markings to the host bird's eggs. When the chicks hatch, it instinctively pushes the other eggs and nestlings out of the nest and is then fed all the food brought back by the unsuspecting surrogate parents.
Feeding: Cuckoos love eating insects including caterpillars and other insects such as beetles and ants. Many of the caterpillars are the hairy or brightly coloured poisonous ones, but the cuckoo's digestive system is specially adapted to cope with the toxins.
Information and image from Garden Bird Supplies
If you want to attract cuckoos to your garden then you may be interested in the following products:
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