Common Cuckoo

The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (formerly European Cuckoo) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.

This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, and Eurasian Reed Warblers.

Read more about Common Cuckoo:  Taxonomy, Lifespan and Demography, Description, Distribution and Habitat, Breeding, In Culture

Famous quotes containing the words common and/or cuckoo:

    Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.
    —“Burial of the Dead,” first anthem, Book of Common Prayer (1662)

    The cuckoo is a merry bird,
    He sings as he flies,
    He brings us glad tidings
    And tells us no lies.
    —Unknown. The Cuckoo (l. 1–4)