Diet

What does the Common Cuckoo eat?

The common cuckoo is primarily a carnivore and will feed on a range of invertebrates. A primary food source is caterpillars. They have rarely been seen to feed on fruits.

Females may also take eggs and chicks from nests where they lay their eggs.

Learn more about the Common Cuckoo in this video from Vilius Paskevicius on YouTube

Range

Where do you find the Common Cuckoo?

The common cuckoo is found in parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. Each year they will migrate spending winter in Africa and breeding in summer through Europe and Asia.

Breeding populations can be found in Afghanistan; Albania; Andorra; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bhutan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; China; Croatia; Czechia; Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Gibraltar; Hungary; India; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Myanmar; Nepal; Netherlands; North Macedonia; Norway; Pakistan; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation (Eastern Asian Russia, Central Asian Russia, European Russia); Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Thailand; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

They will pass through the following countries during their migration - Bahrain; Iraq; Jordan; Kuwait; Oman; Palestine, State of; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; South Sudan; United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

This species is a non-breeding resident in - Algeria; Angola; Bangladesh; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Denmark; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hong Kong; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Kenya; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Liberia; Libya; Malawi; Maldives; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Syrian Arab Republic; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Viet Nam; Western Sahara; Zambia and Zimbabwe.

They are considered an occasional vagrant to Barbados; Cabo Verde; Comoros; Côte d'Ivoire; Faroe Islands; Gambia; Greenland; Iceland; Indonesia; Lesotho; Mayotte; Palau; Seychelles; Taiwan, Province of China and United States.

Habitat

Where can the Common Cuckoo survive?

The wide range of this species means they can be found in a variety of habitats including forest, wetlands, woodland areas, steppes and meadows.

Credit: Vogelartinfo, GFDL 1.2 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html>, via Wikimedia Commons

Reproduction

How does the Common Cuckoo produce its young?

Males and females will display as they attempt to court one another. He will bob his head while bowing his body. On occasion he will offer her some food during the courtship.

These birds may court multiple times throughout the season and mate with multiple partners.

This species is considered a brood parasite. Their eggs are deposited in to the nest of another bird species and these will then be raised by that bird. Over 100 species have been recorded as hosts for this species.

Females will deposit a single egg in to the nest of a smaller species of bird such as sparrows and pipits. Upon hatching the cuckoo chick will pick up any other eggs in the nest and throw them from the nest.

In many cases these chicks grow to be larger than the bird which has raised them.

As they are not raising their own eggs they can lay as many as 10-25 eggs in a single season.

Eggs hatch within 13 days of being laid. They will fledge at 21 days old and are independent within 8 weeks. Their parents have no role in raising the young.

Sexual maturity is achieved by two years old.

Behavior

What does the Common Cuckoo do during its day?

These birds are migratory and will breed in Europe and Asia before travelling to Africa to spend the winter in warmer climates.

Common cuckoos have a distinctive call. This is often regarded as one of the first signs of spring in Europe.

Outside of the breeding season this species is solitary. Even at this time they only come together briefly to mate.

Credit: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Predators and Threats

What stops the Common Cuckoo from surviving and thriving?

No predators have been recorded of the adult common cuckoo. Chicks may be targeted by crows and cats.

To defend themselves against predation the young can let out brown fluid with a bad odor.

Numbers of the common cuckoo have been declining across their range. At present the mature population is estimated at 40,000,000-74,999,999 mature individuals.

In areas of Europe this species has been impacted by intensive farming which leads to lower insect populations.

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Quick facts

The species was first described for modern science in 1758.

Their call is imitated by cuckoo clocks. These were first produced in the Black Forest which is located in Germany part of this species range.

Credit: jinchin  建昌 lin, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons