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13

Common Cuckoo

(Cuculus canorus)
Alternate name(s): "Cuckoo", "European Cuckoo"
German name(s): "Kuckuck"

Size: 32-36 cm; wing span 54-60 cm
Weight: 70-160 g (male 130 g average; female 110 g average)
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Common Cuckoo at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "canorus"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Common Cuckoo; note the solid-grey chest (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Near-lateral view of a Common Cuckoo (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Cuckoo (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Race "bangsi"

ADULT

FEMALE

Grey morphology

Frontal view of a female Common Cuckoo; note the brownish barring on the upper chest (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a female Common Cuckoo (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2013]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Common Cuckoo in flight; the rufous tinges may suggest that this is a female
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, April 2019]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Common Cuckoo in flight; the rufous tinges may suggest that this is a female
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, April 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Dorsal view of a juvenile Common Cuckoo in flight, wings down; note the white patch at the nape of the neck
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Portugal, August 2019]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Common Cuckoo in flight, wings up (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Portugal, August 2019]

Food, Diet

Common Cuckoos feed on various types of insects. The photos below show that Common Cuckoos have a liking for hairy caterpillars.

Lateral view of a male Common Cuckoo that has caught a caterpillar (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Female Common Cuckoo beating to death a caterpillar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2013]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

cuckoo_dw_20160503.m4a canorus
(Poland)
Contact calls (male) © DW
 
cuckoo_jp_20200418_2.m4a bangsi
(Portugal)
Contact calls (male) © JP
cuckoo_jp_20200418.m4a bangsi
(Portugal)
Contact calls (male) © JP

More Common Cuckoo sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.