Common Cuckoo
Cuculus canorus

Family | Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis |
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This is the famous bird of Europe whose voice is imitated by cuckoo clocks (and whose call, coo-coo, gave the name to the entire cuckoo family). It is well known as a brood parasite: females lay their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, and their hapless 'hosts' raise only young cuckoos. A common migratory bird across most of Europe and Asia, it regularly strays to the western Alaskan islands in late spring and early summer.
Photo Gallery
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
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Learn moreSongs and Calls
Male: The famous cuck-oo of cuckoo clocks. Female: kwik-kwik-kwik.Learn more about this sound collection.