Cuckoo egg size. Cuckoo bird

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

For trackers, the cuckoo is an inconvenient object of observation. It leaves practically 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 have quite a lot of time in Russia a short time. They return from wintering no earlier than the second half of April, and already at the end of July the old birds begin to migrate south. Since that time, they often fly into villages and even into city parks. And in September, young cuckoos also fly away from us. Birds from the western regions spend the winter in Africa, and from the eastern regions - in India and Southeast Asia.

In the summer, staying in the forests, along the outskirts of bushes or reed thickets, the cuckoo often flies down to grab a caterpillar or some other insect spotted in the grass, and immediately flies back. Its short, long-toed legs are poorly suited to moving on the ground. Birds can only gallop awkwardly short distance. But even in these cases, no paw prints can be seen on grass-covered or dry soil.

Underside of a cuckoo's foot and droppings

cuckoo claws

The cuckoo's toes are arranged in the same way as those of woodpeckers or owls. Two fingers (2nd and 3rd) point forward and two (1st and 4th) point back. The outer toes, 3rd and 4th, are long and thin, with slightly curved claws. The inner ones are greatly shortened. The second finger, together with the claw, does not reach the claw of the middle finger. Based on these features, the cuckoo's paw print can be unmistakably distinguished from the paw prints of woodpeckers, whose soles of the paws 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 cuckoo's footprint is about 5.5 cm long, slightly shorter than the green woodpecker's print and slightly longer than the hoary woodpecker's.

Cuckoo pellets and droppings

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

Cuckoo droppings also do not have any features by which they could be reliably 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 a long-eared or marsh owl) or a small corvid bird, like a magpie.

Cuckoo laying eggs

More than 125 species of Eurasian birds are known to have cuckoo eggs or chicks found in their nests. 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 a great grebe. Naturally, such eggs were doomed to death.

The cuckoo is a rather large bird: length is about 36 cm, and weight is 107 g. But cuckoo eggs are very small compared to its size, on average 23x17.23 mm and weighing about 3 g. The cuckoo develops very quickly in the egg and hatches at 11 -12th day, while in birds that most often become cuckoo caregivers, the 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 known case when a cuckoo repeatedly tried to place an egg in the nest of a willow warbler for 2 hours, but each time a couple of small birds boldly drove her away, and she was never able to throw her egg to them.

Apparently, in such cases, cuckoo eggs sometimes end up in completely random nests, where they cannot be hatched and the cuckoo eggs cannot be fed. Cuckoo eggs were found in empty nests of wrens, adapted for overnight stays and not for hatching chicks, as well as in the nests of waders and other birds that were completely unsuitable for raising a cuckoo chick.

Many cuckoo eggs die during the process of being laid. Before laying an egg, the cuckoo bird sits for a long time, hiding in the bushes and watching the birds, which it intends to make educators of its child. Having discovered their home by the behavior of the birds, she chooses a 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 as the closed nests of wrens or small huts of warblers, etc.), the female lays the egg on the ground, and then transfers it to the nest tray in her beak. These are the most favorable cases of egg laying. It falls into the nest chosen in advance by the cuckoo and usually at the appropriate time, at the beginning of the laying. Before laying an egg, she pulls the hosts' 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 the host birds. Many small birds, seeing this, begin to pursue him. At this time, the female hurries to the nest left by the birds and does her dirty deed. This is a less favorable case for the successful hatching of a cuckoo chick: the male has distracted the female who is already incubating the clutch, and the cuckoo chick does not always manage to hatch on time.

The cuckoo often lays an egg in the nests of hollow nesters, pressing its tail against the opening of 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 the eggs of small passerine birds.

Cuckoo eggs are very diverse in color. There are “reed-reed” colors - bluish with dark streaks, and there are “redstart” blue colors. There are many other types of coloring.

If a cuckoo egg lands in the nest of the desired bird on time, there is no guarantee that the chick will hatch and be safely fed. Birds react differently to the appearance of someone else's egg in the nest. Some continue to incubate, despite the great difference between their eggs and the cuckoo's eggs in size and color. Others abandon the nest - this is what wrens often do. Some people simply throw away the cuckoo egg - this is what city sparrows always do. Sometimes birds line a new tray in the nest, covering the old clutch along with the cuckoo egg with bast fibers, hair and feathers, and begin to form a 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 started putting aluminum rings on the chicks' legs, I discovered a blue scrambled egg at the bottom of the nest. Yellow wagtails have fawn-brown and smaller eggs. Apparently, the cuckoo intended the blue egg for the nest of the meadow whit - it has blue eggs, but, not finding a suitable nest, it laid it in the nest of the wagtail. And although she did not reject the laid egg, the chick did not hatch from it. Probably, the native chicks hatched very quickly, so the cuckoo egg died.

Kukushata

It’s not easy to raise a cuckoo in someone else’s nest. Of the more than 100 species of potential caregivers, most often cuckoo chicks or eggs are found in the nests of 10-20 species. Below is a list of some species for central Russia:

1. Robin - average egg size 19.5×15.2 mm; cuckoo egg 23.6×18.3 mm, fawn color with small red spots condensing towards a blunt end (the color is often similar to the eggs of robins).
2. Forest Pipit - eggs 21.1×15.6 mm, color varies greatly, most often grayish, with small and dense brownish streaks; cuckoo egg - 22.8 x 16.8 mm. The color resembles the eggs of a skate.
3. White wagtail - eggs measuring 19.98x14.18 mm, bluish with sparse dark specks; cuckoo egg - 23x15.4 mm, similar in color to the eggs of the nest owners.
4. Thrush warbler - eggs 23.3×15.7 mm, bluish with dark spots; cuckoo eggs - 24.5x16.6 mm, often very similar in color.
5. Garden redstart - eggs 17.88×13.43 mm, blue; cuckoo eggs - 21×15.5 cm. same color.
6. Gray warbler - eggs 18.1 x 13.8 mm, buffy, with dense bluish and brown specks; cuckoo eggs - 21x14.7 mm, often about the same color.
7. Wood Accentor - eggs measuring 19.56x15.54 mm, blue; cuckoo egg -23.3×15.7 mm, same color.
8. Shrike - eggs measuring 22.19 x 16.45 mm, slightly buffy, with bluish and dark clay spots; cuckoo egg - 21.3x16.4 mm, often about the same color.
9. Warbler Chernogolovka - eggs measuring 19.2x14.5 mm, slightly buffy, with clay spots: cuckoo egg - 22x16.3 mm, similar in color to the eggs of the nest owners.
10. Wren - eggs 16.66×12.77 mm. white with small reddish streaks; cuckoo egg - 24x17.1 mm, very different in size and color.

The greatest match in color and size is most often observed in the nests of the thrush warbler and shrike. Similar in color, but much larger, cuckoo eggs are found in the nests of garden redstarts, robins, dunnocks, and reed warblers. The least similarity between cuckoo eggs and caregiver eggs, especially in size, is observed in the nests of wrens and warblers.

I know of cases of successful feeding of cuckoo chicks in the nests of only a few birds - the Robin, the White Wagtail, the Tree Pipit, the Thrush Warbler, the Redstart, the Wood Accentor, the Mill Warbler and the Long-tailed 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 also reaches the northeastern regions of Europe. Occasionally observed in the Moscow region. In the Far East, this cuckoo most often throws eggs into the nests of local warblers.

Little cuckoo

Indian cuckoo

The Indian cuckoo is found in Southern Primorye, but the biology of this bird is almost unknown in our area. Outside Russia, its chicks were found in the nests of stonechat.

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, Stonechat, Golden Blackbirds, etc. those birds that are found here on the Southern Kuril Islands, Sakhalin or in Southern Primorye.

Despite the fact that much is known about the biology of the common cuckoo, there is still much that is unclear. The biology of most other cuckoos found in our country has not been sufficiently studied.

Class - Birds / Subclass - New palates / Superorder - Cuckoo-shaped

Spreading

The common cuckoo is very widespread. It nests in Europe and on the adjacent islands, in North-West, tropical and South Africa, in Asia, in some places even going beyond the Arctic Circle, but is absent on the Arabian and Hindustan Peninsulas and in the southern half of Indochina. The biotopes in which the common cuckoo is found are extremely diverse, which is primarily due to the spread of passerine birds, in whose nests the cuckoo lays its eggs.

The cuckoo can be found on the northern edge of the taiga, in forests, in the forest-steppe, in the steppe, in thickets of various compositions along the banks of standing or flowing reservoirs, in parks and gardens, on the outskirts settlements, high (almost 3000 m above sea level) in the mountains and even on the outskirts of deserts (for example, in the Chui region of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan). In most of its range, the common cuckoo is a migratory bird, flying to winter in tropical and South Africa, less often in the southern regions of the Arabian Peninsula, rarely in India, Ceylon, Indochina, in the southern provinces of China, and on the islands of the Sunda archipelago. Cuckoos inhabiting tropical and South Africa lead a sedentary, partially nomadic lifestyle. Cuckoos leave their wintering grounds very early in the spring. Thus, birds nesting in Europe begin to fly away from their wintering grounds in Africa already in the first days of March. However, they move slowly to nesting sites, and in central regions In Europe, the first birds appear only at the end of April, and the gross migration of birds flying further north occurs in early May. The birds move in a north-easterly direction, flying only 80 km per day. Only at the end of May do birds reach the northern borders of their range. Depending on the nature of spring, the above dates may shift greatly in one direction or the other.

Appearance

The common cuckoo is a medium-sized bird (body length up to 40 cm, wing length - about 22 cm), with a rather long (up to 18 cm) rounded stepped tail and long flight wings. The cuckoo weighs about 100 g. In color and size, it somewhat resembles a sparrowhawk.

Structural features

Sexual dimorphism in coloration is well expressed. In adult males, the back and tail are dark gray, the throat, crop and chest are light gray. The rest of the plumage is white with dark transverse stripes. The eyes and edges of the eyelids are yellow. The beak is blackish, slightly curved at the apex. The legs are short and orange. Females, unlike males, are either brownish on top, with an ocher coating on the crop, or the dorsal side of the body and the top of their heads are rusty-red with wide black and narrow white transverse stripes. Young birds, regardless of sex, are either grayish or rufous with darker transverse stripes throughout the body.

Reproduction

Specialization on one host species is expressed in the fact that cuckoos of the same maternal line lay eggs of the same color and size as the hosts, that is, they try to reproduce an exact copy of the hosts’ eggs. The observant and secretive female cuckoo closely monitors the construction of the nest, as well as the progress of laying eggs in the nest of the adoptive parents. Presumably, the process of nest building, which the female watches so closely, triggers a synchronized psycho-physical process of egg maturation in the female.

Having tracked down a nest left by birds at the stage of intensive oviposition, the cuckoo flies up to it, with its curved beak takes out one egg (less often several), eats it or carries it away, while laying its own egg, indistinguishable from the eggs of the hosts in color. In some cases, if the cuckoo is late and the eggs have already been hatched for quite a long time, the female cuckoos swallow, break and steal the eggs, forcing the couple to start nesting again in order to plant their cuckoo egg on time on the second try. The whole procedure takes the cuckoo no more than 10 seconds. Over the summer, a female cuckoo can theoretically produce 13-20 eggs, but she only manages to lay 2-5 eggs over the summer, one in each nest. If the female fails to find the right moment or if the nest is destroyed prematurely, the cuckoo is forced to lay its egg on the ground or in another random nest. Looking for the moment, the female can delay the egg ready for laying in the oviduct for 1-3 days. The cuckoo's next egg begins to form when it discovers the next teacher's nest under construction.

Lifestyle

In marital relationships, the cuckoo is characterized by polygyny. The male cuckoo occupies a fairly large area, attracting females with his calls.

In summer, cuckoos lead a predominantly solitary lifestyle; they do not build nests and do not incubate eggs. Females lay their eggs in the nests of birds of other species. There are known cases of the common cuckoo throwing eggs into the nests of over 120 species of birds, but usually females of the same genetic line throw eggs into the nests of only one species of song passerines. Thanks to this specialization, several maternal lines have formed in the cuckoo gene pool, specializing in one type of songbird. Females of each specialized genus (the so-called gene) pass on the W chromosome from generation to generation to their female offspring. Thus, the genes responsible for the color and size of eggs are transmitted only from mother to daughter and are the result of natural selection. Males mate with representatives of all lines, thus maintaining the unity of the species. In addition, female descendants of one cuckoo usually remember appearance their adoptive parents and usually return to the area where they grew up the following summer. Interestingly, young birds begin to reproduce later than older birds. The lifespan of birds in the wild is 5-10 years.

Nutrition

The cuckoo feeds mainly on insects and their larvae. It is extremely voracious, eating especially a lot of various hairy caterpillars, which are avoided by many insectivorous birds, and eats beetles, fillies and bird eggs. The stomachs of two cuckoos caught in the southwestern foothills of Altai at the end of June contained three dozen gypsy moth caterpillars, and the other two contained the remains of beetles, beetle larvae, a moth and an ichneumon. Sometimes cuckoos feed on berries.

Common cuckoo and man

The common cuckoo is a useful bird. It quickly finds places of mass reproduction of insects and helps suppress the dangerous outbreak.

This article will talk about one very strange bird, which differs from other birds with its surprisingly unusual behavior. This is a cuckoo, known for laying its eggs or throwing them into the nests of other bird species.

You can learn about their characteristics, in which nests the cuckoo lays eggs and what its chicks are, what they eat, by reading this article. But first let's give general information about them.

Many people know that female cuckoos shift all the worries about their offspring onto other people’s shoulders, so to speak, limiting themselves to searching for ready-made other people’s nests and throwing their eggs into them.

What is the name of the cuckoo chick? Little cuckoo. This is what will be discussed in this article.

General information about the cuckoo

Different types of cuckoos differ in size. Most birds belonging to the cuckoo family weigh barely 100 grams and have a body length of no more than forty centimeters.

But all representatives of this family are characterized by the presence of a rather long tail, strong paws and a thin body. And the plumage, as a rule, is not particularly brightly colored. And sexual dimorphism in color is either poorly developed or absent altogether.

There are no cuckoos only in the Arctic and Antarctic. But in general, their distribution area is wide throughout the globe, and they are especially fond of warm countries. Some species living in temperate latitudes are mostly migratory, while the rest are sedentary.

Description

Before we find out what a cuckoo chick is, we will describe its parents.

The size of the cuckoo is small. Males and most females have an ash-gray color on the head and upper body. The underside is striated in color (“hawk” type). There are females that have a rusty-red color on the upper side of the body. The tail is quite long - reaches 15-19 centimeters, and the wings grow to 20-30 centimeters. In this regard, the cuckoo appears to be a large bird, especially in flight. In fact, it is small, and its weight is only 120 grams (maximum).

More details about what a cuckoo chick is (see photo below) can be found later in the article.

Cuckoos are considered to be medium-sized birds: the smallest species are only slightly larger than a sparrow, and the largest are like crows. They have rigid plumage that fits well to the body. But the fluff is rather poorly developed.

The elongated shin feathers of these birds form a kind of “pants”. The wings of most members of the family are long and sharp (there are only 10 primary flight wings, the longest of which is the third).

Stepped a long tail has, as a rule, 10 tail feathers. The four-toed legs of cuckoos are short.

The young cuckoo (chick) differs from its old relatives in the browner coloration of the upper body, as a rule, with rusty-red transverse stripes. The cuckoo's tail has a white tip, while rufous females have a dark stripe along the edge.

The male makes sounds in the form of “cuckoo”, sometimes turning into muffled laughter. It is typical for females ringing sound“kli-kli-kli.” cuckoos no more than ten times in a row.

About varieties

The number of the entire order of cuckoos is approximately 150 species, united in 39 genera. They are divided into 2 suborders: true cuckoos, containing one family of cuckoos, and turacos, containing one family of turacos (or banana-eaters).

Most of the members of the family are shrubby and arboreal. Their life passes in the crown of bushes and trees. Among them there are species leading a terrestrial lifestyle. They build their nests on the ground.

Many cuckoos are monogamous. During the breeding season, they form pairs, build nests themselves, incubate eggs and feed their chicks.

People often ask the question: "Why does the cuckoo abandon its chicks?" It turns out that this is typical only for polygamous cuckoos.

Habitats, lifestyle

This cuckoo nests in lands from England to Japan and Kamchatka, occupying almost the entire Russian territory from west to east. In the north, in the European part of the country, the distribution area of ​​this bird reaches the Arctic Circle and even a little further. As for the southern part, in this region cuckoos “crossed” the state border, reaching Asia Minor and North Africa.

The bird lives in both tundra and semi-deserts, choosing shrubs, forests and mountain dwarf trees. Feeds on a wide variety of insects (helps in killing many hairy caterpillars that other birds do not normally feed on). You can find out what the cuckoo chick eats below.

Almost all such representatives of the family live in the eastern hemisphere, and monogamous people live in the western hemisphere. The first, as you remember, do not form pairs: in one area there are only one female and several males, less often their ratio is the opposite.

In the European part of Russia, these birds throw eggs into the nests of several dozen species: tiny kinglets, wrens, nightingales, swifts, etc. They also throw “fosters” into sparrows.

Peculiarities

Cuckoo eggs vary among all species because the females belong to different ancestral lines. Each of them is associated with a certain type host birds, so the eggs are laid in appropriate colors. There is another interesting point. A slightly grown cuckoo chick pushes other chicks out of the nest, whose parents continue to feed the foundling.

Depending on the region of habitat, the host birds of cuckoos may be different. In the European part these are primarily redstarts, wagtails, warblers and shrikes. Their breeding season is from May to July.

Cuckoo chick: photo, description

The embryo, warmed by a diligent hen, develops quite quickly. The cuckoo chick emerges from the egg within 12 days, that is, earlier than the chicks of most small birds. In height, he quickly overtakes the natural children of his adoptive parents.

Strangely, almost immediately after hatching (after 10-12 hours), the cuckoo chick has some kind of special need to throw various objects out of the nest that touch its back (bare skin has many very sensitive nerve endings). If suddenly a warm egg with an already moving chick falls on the foundling’s back, the cuckoo, placing it in the sacral cavity and holding it with its wings, crawls to the edge of the nest to throw it to the ground. He can do the same with small chicks.

Habits

In total, during the first 3-4 days of life, when the chick exhibits a similar reflex, the cuckoo chick (foster) throws only about 10 eggs from the nest, or almost all of the host chicks. Usually, parents feed their young only in nests, so abandoned babies die.

The whole thing usually remains intact if the cuckoo throws an egg into a nest with an already hatched clutch, because it begins to lag behind them in growth. Then it is very difficult for parents to feed so many mouths.

The cuckoo in the nest is completely silent. A little later, he begins to squeak loudly, demanding food. And after flying out of the nest, he squeaks, tormenting his adoptive parents.

The picture looks very strange when two small birds, such as flycatchers or warblers, are constantly fussing around a large, already flying cuckoo with reddish plumage. In the photo below you can see what a cuckoo chick looks like, fed with all its might by birds of another species.

The cuckoo opens its mouth so wide that it seems as if it could swallow the bird along with the caterpillars. The following picture is often observed: a bird sits on the cuckoo’s shoulders and puts food into its mouth from above, and then again hurries for prey.

Feeding cuckoos

These birds feed exclusively on animal food. Typically, prey is collected from bushes, trees, and a little less often from the ground. It happens that they catch insects on the fly in the air, for which their wide mouth is well adapted.

The basis of nutrition for most cuckoo species is a variety of insects and their larvae. Less commonly, they eat other invertebrates (for example, spiders).

There are species of cuckoos (mostly tropical) that feed on bird eggs and chicks, amphibians, small mammals and reptiles.

What do cuckoo chicks eat? Growing cuckoo chicks are surprisingly voracious. There is one known case when a very young chick of this species, fed in a cage, ate 39 large 18 lizards, 3 butterfly pupae, 5 May beetle larvae, 43 cabbage caterpillars, 4 spiders, 50 mealworms and a large number of“eggs” of ants.

The chick is very demanding when it comes to feeding, so it persistently achieves its goal. It often happens that he is fed not only by his “foster” parents, but also by other birds.

The cuckoo has different similar names in other countries: the Bulgarians call it “kukovitsa”, in Romania the word “kuk” is common, the Germans called it “cuckoo”, the Czechs called it “cuckoo”, the French simply called it “cuku”, and the Italians called it “cucolo”. ".

The coloring of the cuckoo is basically the same as that of the sparrowhawk. Perhaps this is not accidental, since thanks to this the cuckoo can easily drive away its owners from the nest.

Redstarts and warblers most often become caregivers of cuckoo cubs.

Conclusion

Despite this feature of the described bird, it is considered useful. The only not very pleasant moment is that, by throwing its eggs into other people's nests and causing the death of the host chicks, the cuckoo causes some harm, destroying insectivores useful birds.

Everyone knows cuckoos well. And if someone has not seen it with their own eyes (seeing a cuckoo is not so easy), then they have heard it while visiting the forest in spring or early summer. It is enough to hear the voice of the cuckoo once to immediately understand why it was given such a name. And this is what the bird is called not only in Russian. The Germans call this bird "kukuk". The French say "coo." In Romania it is called "kuk". In Italy - "pupolo". In Spanish her name is “cuco”, and in Turkish it is “guguk”.

The cuckoo is very careful: looking out for suitable nests from ambush in advance, it chooses the moment and lays its egg in it in a few seconds. Some scientists claim that at the same time the cuckoo removes the egg lying there from the nest. But if you think about it, why would she do this? Firstly, birds cannot count; secondly, a completely different situation soon appears in the nest: instead of several, there is one chick; thirdly, the cuckoo throws out all its competitors, and it does not matter to him whether there is one more or one less. Finally, cuckoos do not only lay their eggs in open nests. And it is not always possible to remove someone else’s egg from a hollow or nesting box, even for purely technical reasons. By the way, the cuckoo does not lay an egg in closed nests - it places it somewhere nearby on the ground and transfers it to the nest in its beak. If, nevertheless, observers saw the cuckoo remove the egg (there is no reason to doubt their veracity), then this was probably dictated by some special circumstances.

There is another opinion regarding the cuckoo’s method of laying eggs in other people’s nests. It is believed that the bird is not careful, but, on the contrary, acts very brazenly. In appearance - both in contour and color - it looks like a hawk. Flying low over the nest, the cuckoo hawk scares the birds, forcing them to hide in the bushes or foliage, while at the same time laying an egg. They also say that the male helps the female in laying eggs - he scares or distracts the owners of the nest.

Having thrown eggs into several nests, one in each (and the cuckoo can have 10 or 25 eggs), the cuckoo calmly goes to South Africa for the winter (adult cuckoos fly away very early, young cuckoos fly away late). And tragedies play out in the nests.

The baby cuckoo hatches from the egg a day or two earlier than its half-brothers and sisters. This time is enough for him to get comfortable in the nest. He is still blind (the cuckoo's eyes open on the fifth day), still naked (but already quite strong - he weighs three grams, and can lift twice as much). But he has already developed an instinct for throwing away: he throws away any object that he touches with his bare back. Such items are primarily the eggs or chicks of the nest owners. By hoisting them on its back - the cuckoo chick even has a special area on its back for this - and helping itself with its bare wings, the cuckoo chick in a short time “cleanses” the nest for itself. The cuckoo is in a hurry - the throwing instinct lasts three to four days, then subsides. If he does not have time to throw out his competitors during this time, the chicks will remain in the nest. But they are still doomed: the cuckoo will intercept all the food that the “foster parents” bring.

And the “foster parents” don’t seem to notice the changes that are happening in their nest. They feed the only chick with amazing diligence, although they could have realized long ago that this is not their chick at all. Aristotle drew attention to this amazing phenomenon. “The cuckoo is so beautiful that its breadwinners begin to hate their own children,” he wrote. The real reason Such “devotion” became known relatively recently, thanks to the research of the famous Dutch scientist N. Tinenbergen. It turns out that the bright red throat and yellow mouth of the cuckoo chick are a signal, and a very powerful one, forcing not only the “foster parents” to feed it, but also “stranger” birds that happen to be nearby to give the cuckoo chick food that they caught for their own chicks. At the same time, no one notices or takes into account the colossal size of the chick. Feeder birds sometimes sit on the back or head of their offspring, thrusting their entire heads into its wide-open mouth.

Only a month and a half after leaving the nest does the cuckoo begin to lead an independent life.

Cuckoos mostly lay eggs in the nests of small birds. But some species throw them into the nests of crows, jackdaws and other rather large birds. But in any case, each cuckoo specializes in certain birds - robins or redstarts, warblers or flycatchers. And the eggs of specialized cuckoos are similar in shape and color to the eggs of these birds. As for the size of the eggs, here is another phenomenon. A cuckoo weighs 100-120 grams, and its egg should weigh 15 grams. But it lays eggs weighing 3 grams, the same as those of a bird weighing 10-12 grams.

Once in England, an exhibition of cuckoo eggs was organized, collected from 76 nests of different species of birds. 919 eggs of various colors, colors and sizes were presented. But not all eggs were presented. Cuckoos are known to lay eggs in the nests of at least 150 bird species.

It would seem that everything is clear, cuckoos are very harmful birds that destroy the chicks of many useful birds. And from here we could draw the appropriate conclusion and treat these birds accordingly. But it’s too early to draw a conclusion. Let's look at this from a different point of view.

Firstly, let's not blame the cuckoo for being a bad mother. There are different opinions regarding what makes cuckoos throw eggs into other people's nests. But one thing is certain: this behavior of the cuckoo is not explained by a lack of maternal feeling, but, on the contrary, by concern for the preservation of its offspring. The cuckoo baby cannot save its life without throwing its competitors out of the nest: its “adoptive parents” are not able to feed the entire family - the cuckoo baby is very gluttonous. And it is this bird’s insatiability (if we talk about harm and benefit) that atones for its guilt for the death of the chicks of other birds. An adult cuckoo can eat up to 100 caterpillars in an hour, and it can “work” with such intensity for several hours in a row. And if a lot of pests appear in the forest where the cuckoo lives, it will eat them without interruption until it eats them all. Many cuckoos flock to the “feast”, they even fly from far away. In other words, one cuckoo destroys significantly more harmful insects (and more dangerous insects) than all the birds killed by the cuckoo would destroy.

But insatiability is not the only advantage of cuckoos. Among insects, especially among caterpillars, there are some that other birds do not eat, for example, many birds do not eat “hairy” caterpillars. And the cuckoo eats, and with great pleasure. Its stomach is designed in such a way that the “hair” of the caterpillars digs into a special coating of the walls, and then this coating is removed from the stomach along with the “hair”.

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It is difficult to imagine our forests without birds and their wonderful singing. And it’s even more difficult to imagine a walk on fresh air without the characteristic “peek-a-boo”. This sound is made by male cuckoos, and females make gurgling trills. It seems to be a very common bird, but not much is known about it because it is difficult to study.

Description of the common cuckoo

Do you know what this bird looks like?

The common cuckoo lives almost everywhere in Russia. But it is very difficult to see her. As a rule, everyone heard its “peek-a-boo”, but few can boast of having seen this bird. So, the common cuckoo can reach thirty-eight centimeters in length. The length of the tail is approximately thirteen to eighteen centimeters, and the wingspan is fifty-five centimeters. The bird weighs very little, about one hundred and thirty grams. Her legs are strong, but rather short. Females differ in appearance from males.

Females usually have red or brown plumage. There are black stripes along the back and head. The feathers themselves are edged with white. And the head and chest are usually light gray in color, but thin black stripes are clearly visible on them. The weight of the female does not exceed one hundred and ten grams. Juveniles are light rufous with dark stripes throughout the body. Birds molt twice a year. IN summer time This is a partial change of feather, and in winter it is a complete change.

Males have a dark gray tail and back. The chest and head are grey. All other feathers are quite light with dark stripes. The birds have a dark beak, but their legs are yellow.

Bird breeding

The common cuckoo is a rather mysterious bird. It's hard to see. Many peoples have a lot of legends about it. And this is connected primarily with the unusual way of her life.

At the beginning of spring, cuckoos leave Africa and fly to Asia and Europe, to their nesting sites. They lead a solitary life. Males occupy huge areas that reach several hectares. But females have a less extensive territory. For them, an important criterion is the presence of nests of other birds nearby.

The common cuckoo does not build nests. But she actively watches other birds. For example, for representatives Why do you think she is doing this?

The cuckoo chooses future teachers for its chicks. Yes, this is such a cunning bird. She completely relieves herself of all worries about raising children and shifts them onto the shoulders of others.

Strange habits of the cuckoo

The bird's caution is amazing. She ambushes in advance to look for a good suitable nest. As soon as she seizes the moment, she lays her egg in it in a couple of seconds. Scientists have come to the conclusion that at the same time she throws out someone else's egg. But this fact has not been confirmed. In fact, it is not clear why she would do this. Birds cannot count, which means the owner of the nest cannot detect the extra egg.

After the cuckoo hatches and gets a little stronger, it throws all its competitors out of the nest.

It must be said that the common cuckoo lays eggs not only in nests, but also in hollows. Or rather, she first lays them somewhere nearby, and only then carries them in her beak.

There is also a completely opposite opinion regarding how the cuckoo throws its offspring. Its coloring is somewhat similar to that of a hawk. And therefore the bird uses impudence. She scares away the owners of the nest by flying low over them, and while they are hiding in confusion in the grass or leaves, she lays her eggs. The male can help her with this.

Chick Survival School

The common cuckoo, whose appearance is unremarkable, nevertheless has amazing cunning. She one by one throws her eggs into different nests, and with a pure soul she goes to South Africa for the winter. Meanwhile, sad events occur in the nests of the adoptive parents.

The baby cuckoo, as a rule, hatches a couple of days earlier than its fellows. During this time, he manages to acclimatize in the nest. Although he is still blind and naked, he has already developed the throwing instinct. Imagine him throwing away everything that touches his bare back. First of all, these are eggs and chicks. The chick is in a hurry to do its job. Instinct works in him for only four days. But this is quite enough to destroy competitors. Even if someone survives, he still has little chance of survival. The fact is that the cuckoo takes away all the food that its foster parents bring.

Why don't birds notice deception?

The behavior of the nest owners is also surprising. They don't seem to notice what's happening. And they are trying to feed their only baby. And at the same time they don’t see that this is not their chick at all.

Not long ago, the reason for this strange behavior of birds was discovered. It turns out that the cuckoo's yellow mouth and red throat give the birds a powerful signal that forces the adoptive parents to carry food to the already large chick. Even foreign birds that happen to be nearby give him food they caught for their own chicks. Only a month and a half after the first flight from the nest, the chick begins to live independently.

Adaptability of birds

The common cuckoo mainly lays eggs on small birds. But some species also throw them into the nests of jackdaws and crows and other fairly large birds. Yet cuckoos specialize in certain birds, such as redstarts, robins, warblers and flycatchers. Cuckoos even have eggs similar to their offspring in both shape and color.

But as for their size, it’s a complete mystery. The bird itself weighs about one hundred and twenty grams, which means its egg should weigh fifteen grams. Instead, the cuckoo lays very small eggs weighing three grams, which is disproportionate to its size.

Once upon a time in England they organized an exhibition of cuckoo eggs. So, nine hundred and nineteen copies were exhibited. They were all different colors, quantities. This means that the birds lay eggs that are exactly like the eggs of their adoptive parents. The cuckoo throws them into the nests of at least one hundred and fifty species of birds.

At first glance, everything is clear. The common cuckoo is a bird of prey that destroys the chicks of good and useful birds. However, not all so simple.

Probably, the cuckoo is not a completely bad mother; she still makes efforts to save her offspring. And the cuckoo’s desire to destroy competitors is explained by its great gluttony.

It is this amazing love for food that makes this bird very useful. What do you think the common cuckoo eats? That's right, caterpillars. In just one hour, it can destroy up to a hundred caterpillars. And this is not the limit, since the bird is incredibly voracious.

Many birds do not eat hairy caterpillars. But the cuckoo does not overeat in this sense. Its stomach is designed in such a way that the hairs of the caterpillars do not cause harm, but are quietly gradually excreted.

Where does the common cuckoo winter?

The cuckoo, no matter how surprised you may be, moves to South Africa for the winter. But how this happens is unknown, because no one has seen cuckoos flying in flocks, which is typical for other birds. Apparently, they fly alone. They very quietly disappear from the forests in the fall, as if they were never there. And just as unexpectedly they appear in the spring, with the first bright rays of the sun.

Sometimes cuckoos can fly south to the Chinese provinces on the island of Ceylon, in Indochina.

Those individuals that winter in Africa leave it in early March. Birds fly very slowly, covering eighty kilometers a day. They fly day and night without resting. They spend three months at the wintering site.

The common cuckoo (photos are given in the article) is distinguished by unusual behavior among representatives of its family.

There are cuckoos in the world that throw eggs into their nests, but then hatch them themselves or, conversely, later feed them on their own. And there are those who put their offspring in nests big birds. Then the cuckoo has no need to throw rivals out of the nest, since there is enough food for everyone.

Are all adoptive parents ready to raise someone else's chick?

It is not clear why birds raise someone else's baby after discovering a substitution. As experiments show, almost all birds do not know their eggs well. That's why they don't see the difference. Ducks, chickens and eagles in general can hatch absolutely any object that resembles an egg in shape. It was once noticed that the swans had the intention of hatching a bottle.

Scientists even experimented with replacing all the eggs in the nest, after which the bird laid its own egg. So, seeing that it was not like everyone else, she threw it away, mistaking it for someone else’s.

But not all birds are so stupid and indiscriminate. Some skillfully detect substitutions and throw them out of their nests. Others simply abandon their homes along with their future offspring and begin to build a new nest. And some birds build a second floor above the old nest, resulting in a two-story structure, on the first level of which abandoned eggs are located, and on the second the bird lays new offspring.

Where does the cuckoo live?

The common cuckoo is quite widespread. It nests in the European part of the mainland and on the nearest islands, in Africa, Asia, and sometimes even migrates beyond the Arctic Circle.

Who is the common cuckoo? Description for children of this unusual bird you need to start with the benefits it brings. Of course, the cuckoo kills the offspring of birds, but not many of its babies survive. Of the five eggs she throws, not all the chicks will hatch; only one cub will reach adulthood. After all, some birds, sensing deception, abandon the nest along with all the eggs, which simply die.

The voracious nature of the bird makes it very useful. She needs to eat a lot, and she doesn’t eat insects, she eats everyone around her. There are even folk sign that if more than one cuckoo cuckoos in one place, this indicates a large number of insects. This statement is absolutely true. If a large number of insects are bred in a certain area, then not only relatives from the nearest areas will come to the feast, but also the most distant relatives will come. This is how these strange birds work.