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 LC    Common Cuckoo* Id (Atlas):
    Cuculus canorus

Description (10)
Image of Common Cuckoo
 

Other Names (World)
Common Cuckoo, European Cuckoo, Grey Cuckoo, Gray Cuckoo, Cuckoo

Family
Cuculidae (Cuckoos)

Size
32 - 36 cm

First Described (Guide)
Linnaeus, 1758

Habitat
Open grassland, farmland, reedbeds, marshes. Also parks, low woodland and taiga forest to limit of tundra.

Range (Guide)
Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Andorra (B), Angola, Armenia (B), Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus (B), Belgium (B), Benin, Bhutan (B), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Botswana, Bulgaria (B), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland) (B), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Czech Republic (B), Denmark (B) (P), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia (B), Ethiopia, Finland (B), France (B), Gabon, Georgia (B), Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Gibraltar (B), Greece (B) (P), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary (B), India (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (P), Ireland (B), Israel (B), Italy (B), Japan (B), Jordan (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (B), Laos, Latvia (B), Lebanon (B), Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein (B), Lithuania (B), Luxembourg (B), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta (B), Mauritania, Moldova [Republic of] (B), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (B), Namibia, Nepal (B), Netherlands Antilles (B), Niger, Nigeria, North Korea (B), Norway (B), Oman, Pakistan (B), Poland (B), Portugal (B), Qatar, Romania (B), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (B), Sierra Leone, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (B), Somalia, South Africa, South Korea (B), Spain (B), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden (B), Switzerland (B), Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand (B), Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (B), Turkmenistan (B), Uganda, Ukraine (B), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), Uzbekistan (B), Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Barbados, Cape Verde, Comoros, Côte dIvoire, Faroe Islands, Gambia, Greenland, Iceland, Indonesia, Lesotho, Mayotte, Palau, Seychelles, Taiwan (China), USA.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 25,000,000 - 100,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Insects, mainly hairy caterpillars and beetles.

Voice
Male, the familiar 'cu-coo', hence its name. Female, many repeated bubbling notes.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (201)...)

 
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) [XC728856]
     by Sonoth\u00e8que ADVL from Soug\u00e9al, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, Germany (song)

 
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) [XC830613]
     by Pichard Olivier from Arrondissement de Ch\u00e2tellerault (near Thur\u00e9), Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (song)

Nest
None. Eggs are laid in the nest of the host which is usually a Dunnock (Prunella modularis), Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) or Common Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus).

Eggs (Guide)
As many as 25 layed in different nests; variable, often closely resembling that of the host, although usually larger. Incubation: about 12 days. The shortness of the incubation period almost guarentees that the cuckoos egg will hatch first and thus increase the chances of its survival.

Subspecies
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

  • canorus Linnaeus, 1758   -  Europe, east to Kamchatka, south to Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
  • bangsi Oberholser, 1919   -  Spain, Balearic Island and north-western Africa.
  • subtelephonus Zarudny, 1914   -  Iran, Afghanistan, through northern Pakistan and Kashmir, eastern shore of Caspian Sea to Mongolia, China and Japan.
  • bakeri Hartert, 1912   -  Himalayas, Assam and southern China.



References
See References.

The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7


Files:
JPG files for Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) - 10 files


More Information

BirdLife International

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