Nocturnal Cuckoo??

LavaLamp · 21-05-2010 1:29pm #1

This might seem a strange question, but I know very little about birds and their habits. For the last couple of weeks we have had a cuckoo "cuckoo-ing" nearly all night, every night. We also hear it during the day, the thing never seems to sleep!!

Is this normal or have we got some kind of random nocturnal cuckoo lurking in our garden??

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 21-05-2010 1:42pm

"In April I open my bill
In May I sing night and day
In June I change my tune
In July I fly away."

LavaLamp · 21-05-2010 1:47pm

Aarav Tinkling Loudmouth wrote: »

"In April I open my bill
In May I sing night and day
In June I change my tune
In July I fly away."

oh cool - all is revealed! Thanks for that, poor thing must be bloody shattered by the end of May, I know I will be

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 21-05-2010 3:16pm

LavaLamp wrote: »

...poor thing must be bloody shattered by the end of May...

The lazy sod has nothing else to do but call and feed. No nest building, no feeding, or protecting, young and an early exit back to Africa. The life of Reilly!

LostCovey · 21-05-2010 3:45pm

Aarav Tinkling Loudmouth wrote: »

The lazy sod has nothing else to do but call and feed. No nest building, no feeding, or protecting, young and an early exit back to Africa. The life of Reilly!

That's a little harsh Aarav Tinkling Loudmouth.

Apparently the female Cuckoo lays 15-20 eggs. I think it would be easier to build a nest, incubate and feed a couple of broods than find 20 Meadow Pipit nests (especially while up calling all night).

LostCovey

wildlifeboy · 21-05-2010 3:58pm

Hello Srameen, you seem very knowledgable on all things natural. I was wondering what line of work you are in. I host a weekly radio show on nature and i am looking for contributers. if you are interested i would love to drop you a line.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 21-05-2010 3:58pm

Hang on!

We were refering to the Male, as he is the one that does all the familiar calling.

I would never cast any slurs at a female!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 21-05-2010 3:59pm

wildlifeboy wrote: »

Hello Srameen, you seem very knowledgable on all things natural. I was wondering what line of work you are in. I host a weekly radio show on nature and i am looking for contributers. if you are interested i would love to drop you a line.

No Thanks!

wildlifeboy · 21-05-2010 4:13pm

i thought id ask anyway.

E39MSport · 21-05-2010 9:11pm

Nests stolen, migrations started, radio show host career thrown away.
All in one thread.
What next?

Mothman · 23-05-2010 10:34am

Heard Cuckoo overnight Fri/Sat in Glendalough

mossie · 24-05-2010 8:42am

I haven't heard a cuckoo for years here in north Cork. Must have been when I was a teenager and that is not too recent:( I remember when I was 14 or 15 seeing a female cuckoo around the farmyard and it was probably a few years later I last heard one.

Connacht · 25-05-2010 11:57am

I'm hearing plenty of cuckoos here in Mayo this year. Have heard 4 in the last week alone, from lakeshore, to deep conifer forest, to within 50 m of the sea.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 25-05-2010 12:50pm

I got 2 reports of Cuckoo calls this week and one turned out to be a Wood Pigeon and the other a Collared Dove. Let's just say I was disappointed!

Connacht · 25-05-2010 3:24pm

To help differentiate, listen here :
Cuckoo : http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.aspx
He says "cuck-oo", 2 notes.
Woodpigeon :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/woodpigeon/index.aspx
He says "I'm - aaa - wood - pige -on", 5 notes. But watch out, he rarely starts at the beginning of the 5 notes, so you need to wait for the beginning of the sequence.
Collared Dove :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/collareddove/index.aspx
He says "I'm - aaa - dove", 3 notes.

Tea drinker · 28-05-2010 12:53am

Aarav Tinkling Loudmouth wrote: »

The lazy sod has nothing else to do but call and feed. No nest building, no feeding, or protecting, young and an early exit back to Africa. The life of Reilly!

Well they are calling here in Morocco for the past few weeks, so evidentally some don't even bother to leave!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 28-05-2010 7:24pm

Accepted. Just as some Swallows go no further than northern Africa and the southern Med. British and Irish Cuckoos winter south of Cameroon.

The Cuckoo we were discussing happens to be here and will definately return to Africa.:)

Durnish · 31-05-2010 9:47pm

Saw and heard a couple of cuckoos out on the Dawros peninsula in Donegal. We may even have seen a young cuckoo with its feeder bird. The sluggish cuckoo sat on a tall wire while a small bird fluttered around it.

Connacht · 09-06-2010 4:15pm

I saw two cuckoos this weekend, and continue to hear lots this year.

Nocturnal Cuckoo??

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