Cuckoo
This superb photo of a meadow pipit feeding the much larger cuckoo was taken by Wendy Hamlet who has kindly given her permission for it to be reproduced here.
This superb photo of a young cuckoo and its much smaller host meadow pipit was taken by Wendy Hamlet who has kindly given her permission for it to be reproduced here.
Cuckoos are nest parastites. The female seeks out the nests of suitable host species and will then lay her egg in the nest of the unfortunate smaller bird.
They look for the nests of birds such as dunnocks, meadow pipits and reed warblers and there they lay a single egg. The female may parasitise up to 50 nests. When it hatches the young cuckoo arches its back and pushes the hosts’ eggs (or young if the eggs have hatched) out of the nest and thereby gets all the attention of the parents. The hosts do not recognise the young cuckoo as an imposter and work hard to feed and nurture the growing parasite. It becomes huge compared with the parents and they may even have to perch on its back to feed it.
Cuckoos are summer visitors to the UK from Africa. They arrive in late April or early May. The male has the familiar cuckoo song (the two tone call) whilst the female has a bubbling call. In June the males' call changes and becomes rather more three tone.
The young cuckoos are brown and later turn grey. They have to be able to migrate to Africa on their own as the adults have departed before the young are ready to go. They must, therefore, have a migration map 'built in' to their brains.
The cuckoos' eggs have evolved to resemble the eggs of their hosts and each population of cuckoos specialises in particular host species.
In appearance the cuckoo resembles a hawk and smaller birds will mob them but still fall for accepting the egg and young in their nests.
In the UK as a whole cuckoos are in decline, probably because of a decline in their host species. The numbers are holding up quite well in Scotland.
In Rannoch cuckoos are quite common. Their calls epitomise the spring and they can often be seen in flight or perched on telegraph wires.