welfare the most known brood-parasite among the birds is the 33-35 cm big and approximately 100 g heavy cuckoo. Many other types from the family of the cuckoos also show this high-specialized behavior pattern to attribute other birds (usually Singvögeln) its egg and to let hatched it from them.
Spread The brood-area of the cuckoo stretches over North-Africa and Eurasia (as far as to the Iran, Himalaya and to Japan), where the birds both levels and mountains, culture-landscapes as well like tundras, bogs, forests or Karstgebiete populates. To the winter, European brood-birds - mainly individually and at night - move far after Africa (south from the Sahara), with what adult cuckoos migrate already earlier than squabs in the year.
Reproduction Approximately from middle April (in the south) until in June in arrives cuckoos in the brood-area, the typical reputations of the males then resound in long sequence far-to and often; both sexes however still have a whole row of "giggling" at their disposal and "fauchenden" reputations (therefore the loud-imitative, old German name "Gauch" = cuckoo), that are expressed particularly with strong arousal.
From middle of May, the female puts 8-12 eggs in 2tägigem spaces each to the nests of suitable host-birds, from which the bare and blind nest-stool hatches after 121/4 days. The short brood-duration leaves the brood-parasite usually sooner or at least simultaneous with the offspring of the hosts slips; Young-cuckoos usually are bigger and much more movable than the nestlings of the "entertaining" sparrow-birds. They are during also the brood even embryo in the Kuckucksei insensitive to cold and disruptions.
Already after some hours, the instinct awakens in the cuckoo to throw everything out of the nest which lies besides it in it even; only after 3-4 days, this instinct ominous for its "Stiefgeschwister" usually goes out.
After 20-23 days, the befiederte cuckoo, who didn't carry any Dunenkleid previously, leaves the nest; its big Sperrachen, constantly held open, even by chance visiting small Singvögel brings to cramming full the "changeling" with insects.
Shape The gray plumage of the alto-birds with its Querbänderung reminds of Sperber or (in it rarely appearing, russet phase of female alto-birds) tower-falcons. The terraced one, know-spotted tail as well as the longer beak and also the typical flap - hardly lifts them over its torso-level swinging cuckoos with the lapel and refuses it far downward - they however clearly distinguish from griffins.
Food Like many other types of its family also, cuckoos carry off gladly strongly hairy butterfly-caterpillars (Z). B. Procession-nutcases, nimbly durchkneten which it with the beak as well as skids back and forth, until the intestine-content spurts.
Hopfkuckuck Farther east, the Hopfkuckuck (Cuculus saturatus) somewhat smaller with 31 cm of total-length broods in the forest-regions of Siberia, China and Japan as well as in the Himalaya (until Burma). Where its brood-area with that of the cuckoo overlaps, both types let themselves hardly hold apart in the field-observation, only the Balzruf of the Hopfkuckucks, similar the typical Wiedehopfruf, offers a sure recognition-characteristic. Also Hopfkuckucke train a brown color-phase occasionally.
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