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:
“To do common things perfectly is far better worth our endeavor than to do uncommon things respectably.”
—Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
“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)