Amazing Nature #181 - Cuckoo, a bird with strange habits
Tags: nature mammals amazing animal life
Cuckoo, a bird with strange habits
Today I bring you a publication on one of the most famous birds in the animal kingdom, was popularized when it was included in models of Swiss and German watches bearing the same name, it is the Cuckoo a bird that has a somewhat peculiar behavior. Come with me to learn more about this mysterious species.
Its scientific name is Cuculus canorus of the family Cuculidae, is a bird that has a somewhat active behavior due to its constant migration in different seasons, traveling long distances between Europe and Asia and Africa where it spends winters.
Its shape stands out at first sight by its long tail, is very similar to the Falcons, its average size is 40 centimeters in length. Its plumage is gray and with motes with some white bands on its tail, the rest of the body has the same color except for its black beak with yellow, its wings are very pointed if compared with other species, while their legs are short.
The females present a slightly different coloration, becoming brown in its ventral area, however in the rest of the body presents a gray similar to the male, the eyes are equal in both males and females have beautiful yellow color in some eyes not very large.
Its diet is based on the ingestion of insects, especially its specialty to hunt caterpillars of different kinds, but the most sought after by this bird is the caterpillar that lives in pine trees, its technique is to suck all the interior of the caterpillar.
The preferred sites for cuckoo are areas where there is abundant vegetation such as forests, sometimes installed near agricultural crops, his name was inspired by his peculiar song which emits a powerful way to be a medium-sized bird, it makes sense that watchmakers have chosen among all the birds to the cuckoo for his song, and to change the routine of incorporating bells or the song of the roosters which is traditional in the alarm sounds of most clocks all the time.
In terms of reproduction we have perhaps the strangest behavior that we can find in a bird, the female cuckoo does not use its own nest to lay eggs, for it uses nests of other birds of smaller size and insectivorous behavior, lays 1 egg at a time and is destroying the eggs of the nest of others, repeats the process until the eggs are only from the cuckoo, once the chicks are born if there are more than two the strongest of the chicks will fight for control of the nest to kill or expel from the nest and once it has been able to feed on its adopted mother it will leave the nest starting its development cycle.
To carry out this invasive activity of laying eggs in other people's nests, the female carefully studies all the nests that are under construction in her perimeter, thus identifying and selecting the nests where she will lay eggs while the birds that own the nests are eating during hours of the day.
Normally the area of most nesting is in Spain distributed in areas such as Mallorca, Ibiza, and also in much of the peninsula. When there is a change of season it migrates to Asia returning to the African continent where it spends the winter before returning again to the European continent.
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