Cuckoo

by Chris Scaife

There is surely no other bird whose call is so instantly familiar, and so entwined with the season, as the cuckoo. The sound of the male bird calling its own name is a welcome traditional herald of spring not only in Cumbria, but across much of the northern hemisphere.

This is certainly a bird that is more often heard than seen, as referenced in the opening lines of Cumberland’s own William Wordsworth’s poem To the Cuckoo:

“O blithe New-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice.

O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?”

Famously, cuckoos do not rear their own young. They are known as brood parasites, meaning that the adult female lays an egg in the nest of another bird – in Britain, usually a reed warbler, dunnock or meadow pipit.

The host birds will occasionally remove the cuckoo egg from the nest, or abandon their clutch altogether, but more often than not they will incubate the new egg and rear the chick that hatches out, even as the young cuckoo grows to a size far greater than that of the adult host bird. The sight of a 12g reed warbler placing a caterpillar into the gaping mouth of a 100g cuckoo is nothing short of a natural wonder.

Cuckoos spend only a few months in Britain each year; most of their time is spent in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, most of the cuckoos that breed in Britain share their wintering grounds with leopards, elephants, lions, chimpanzees and gorillas in the rainforests of the Congo.

Like those African species, the cuckoo’s population is in steep decline. There are likely to be several reasons for this.

Climate change has an impact. With warmer weather earlier in the year, host birds tend to start laying eggs earlier now than they did in the past, but cuckoos are not returning to the UK any earlier. As a result, by the time they arrive it is often too late to find a host nest.

Cuckoos rely on insects, their diet mostly comprising moth caterpillars, and it is well known that insect numbers are not what they used to be. There is also general habitat loss in the UK, the Congo and across their migration route. Conservation and an increase in wild areas are needed if this iconic bird is to continue to be our herald of spring.

Chris Scaife

Did you know …

Young and adult cuckoos eat all kinds of insects, but hairy caterpillars are their favourites!

Cuckoos are sometimes mistaken for sparrowhawks due to their markings: blue-grey backs and heads, with striped, dark grey and white undersides. They have long tails and pointed wings and a hawk-like shape in flight.

You’re most likely to hear cuckoos calling from March to August.

In most languages the cuckoo is named after its call: in France it’s known as the coucou, in Holland koekoek, in Germany kuckuk, in Russia kukush-ka and in Japan kak-ko.

Playing bowls offers you all of the following:

 Opportunities to meet new friends in the community and expand your social group.

 A new challenge in your life

 A different way to enjoy time spent outside

 A team activity with potential health benefits

 Improved fitness from gentle exercise

 Improved co-ordination and skill development

 Improved confidence and self esteem

We are repeating our offer for to you to join us at our Jumbles sessions held every Wednesday evening at 6.45 and every Friday afternoon at 1.45 throughout the season. Sessions start on Wednesday April 19th.

WHY NOT IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING BY GIVING BOWLS A TRY?

Participation in any group sport is largely acknowledged to make a positive impact on our happiness, on our mental and physical health and on our overall wellbeing.

Playing bowls is widely recommended by GP’s and by the British Heart Foundation. Medical benefits are said to include: -