General

Common Cuckoo: Large cuckoo with gray upperparts and paler underparts with dark bars on belly. Wings are dark gray; tail is dark gray with faint spotting on outer edges near base. Female is similar but with buff breast or may be red-brown with dark bars overall. Juvenile is dark gray washed with brown.

Range and Habitat

Common Cuckoo: Native of Eurasia; casual visitor to the Pribilofs and Aleutians; accidental in Massachusetts.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"coo-koo", "klu-klu-klu"

Interesting Facts

  The Cuckoo lays its eggs in other bird's nests and so is sometimes regarded as evil. It's a symbol of unfaithfulness, in Japan a symbol of unrequited love.

 There are positive associations as well, linking the Cockoo to fertility and rain.

 In some areas it is considered like the groundhog, and hearing it's song signifies the start of Spring. However if it sings too early it forewarns of frost and poor harvests.

  A group of cuckoos are collectively known as a "cooch" and an "asylum" of cuckoos.

Author

Gary Owen Dick