Common Cuckoo

Voice

The male gives the familiar cuc-koo from late April into June, sometimes stuttering or trisyllabic late in the season. The female sounds entirely different: a bubbling, laughing trill. Both are most active in the early morning.

Identification

Blue-grey upperparts, head and breast with finely barred white underparts. Yellow eyering, yellow legs and a slightly decurved bill. In flight it recalls a Sparrowhawk, but the wingbeats stay below the horizontal, the wings are more pointed and the head is held raised. Females also occur in a rufous (hepatic) morph.

Confusion species

Sparrowhawk: broader tail bands, rounder wings, typical flap-flap-glide and no yellow eyering. Hobby: far more pointed wings and faster, more powerful flight. At distance posture helps: a Cuckoo often perches low and horizontal with drooped wings and raised tail.

Habitat

Half-open landscapes rich in host species: reed marshes (Reed Warbler), heath and dunes (Meadow Pipit), hedgerows and gardens (Dunnock). Needs song posts and a good supply of caterpillars, including hairy species other birds avoid.

Range and movements

Breeds across almost all of Europe and Asia; winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Adults leave from late June onwards, the young following in August without any parental guidance.

• Breeding (summer)
• Passage
• Migration direction
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

Late April to early June, early morning over reedbed or heath. Watch for alarming hosts: Reed Warblers or Meadow Pipits mobbing what looks like a raptor often betray a female Cuckoo prospecting for nests.

Conservation status

Not globally threatened (IUCN: Least Concern), but clearly declining in north-west Europe. The causes run through the chain: fewer large insects, declining host species and rising risks along the long migration route.