Arrival of the Cuckoo

Published on 27-05-2008 by Dr Paul Beckett

The melodius call of the male cuckoo can now be heard on the South Downs so summer must be here!  All the way over from the African winter the male arrives first and make its characteristic call.  The female arrive 10 days or so later but her call is more like a woodpecker than a cuckoo.  She will search around in woods, large parks, field groves and even overgrown graveyards to find a small songbird’s nest in which to lay her egg.  The newly hatched cuckoo is naked and very sensitive to any object near it – consequently it throws everything out of the nest including the other eggs!