Cuckoo calling - is it common to hear them?

bobbysands81 · 09-05-2020 1:32am #1

Heard a lovely cuckoo calling in Wexford today, up on Forth Mountain. Beautiful noise, don’t think I’ve heard it before.

Got a recording of it too. You can’t see the bird but you can clearly hear it.

https://twitter.com/bobbysands81/status/1258920418406207490?s=21

Scotty # · 09-05-2020 11:36am

Unfortunately quite rare now in Ireland. Heard one once about 40 years ago while on holidays at my grans in remote Co. Kerry.

09-05-2020 11:44am

Seemingly loads of them around me, luckily.
Just north of Galway city, by a bog.

I think I just saw one being chased by a couple of crows. Would crows chase one off?

It was bigger than a blackbird, greyish brown and flying with its tail down.

fryup · 09-05-2020 12:03pm

Scotty # wrote: »

Unfortunately quite rare now in Ireland.

really

hear them every year here in east-clare

*maybe its the curlew you're thinking of

Teyla Emmagan · 09-05-2020 12:11pm

The cuckoo reached Glenties in Donegal about 3 weeks ago according to Granny. She is 99 this month and claims it was late this year, she didn't think it was coming.

Rows Grower · 09-05-2020 12:12pm

They're back here every year around the same time in south Kerry, beautiful bird to hear.

Sometimes I think the cuckoo and the pheasant around here are having a competition to outdo one another, usually short intervals between each of the calls.

endainoz · 09-05-2020 12:13pm

Mid to late April is always the time for cuckoo in North Clare anyway, glad to say they aren't rare around here.

DBB · 09-05-2020 12:15pm

They're spring/summer visitors here, they come here to breed. They usually arrive April, and can be heard calling in April and May as the males search for a mate. You just won't hear them at other times of the year as they're either finished mating, or they're just not here!
Crows will certainly chase them off... they parasitise the nests of small birds by throwing the eggs laid by the small bird out of their nest, and laying their own egg in there instead for the small birds to rear the cuckoo chick. Whether they do this to crows I don't know... seems unlikely but perhaps not impossible? Crows will chase off any bird of prey or perceived threat... perhaps they just don't like cuckoos because they look different to what the crows are used to throughout the rest of the year? Happy for a more knowledgeable bird person to fill in the gaps here!

Rodin · 09-05-2020 12:17pm

Been hearing them daily for about the last month. Occasionally two at once

Westernyelp · 09-05-2020 12:19pm

Fairly common sound in Mayo to be heard. All through the years including this year

DBB · 09-05-2020 12:21pm

Have heard them in a couple of different areas of north Offaly too. They did seem a little later than usual this year.

Scotty # · 09-05-2020 1:43pm

Delighted to hear they are so common in some parts. I was under the impression their numbers were in serious decline.

I've never heard one in Dublin/Meath :-(

DBB · 09-05-2020 1:52pm

Scotty # wrote: »

Delighted to hear they are so common in some parts. I was under the impression their numbers were in serious decline.

I've never heard one in Dublin/Meath :-(

They always seem to prefer really rural, wild, open, uninhabited places, like bogs, or cleared forest plantations on mountainsides... I'm basing this entirely on my own experience! As a Dub who migrated to the Midlands, I had never heard one when I lived in Dublin either, even in what were then rural parts of the county. Never heard them when I lived in Louth either, now that I think of it!

Alun · 09-05-2020 1:59pm

I've heard them often while hiking up in the Dublin Wicklow Mountains. Usually in the distance in a far off forested area.

Deagol · 09-05-2020 2:06pm

Heard one yesterday late afternoon up near Slieve Callan in Co. Clare. First one I've heard this year after moving back to a rural community.

cnocbui · 09-05-2020 2:09pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Seemingly loads of them around me, luckily.
Just north of Galway city, by a bog.

I think I just saw one being chased by a couple of crows. Would crows chase one off?

It was bigger than a blackbird, greyish brown and flying with its tail down.

If I were a crow, I'd be attempting to do more harm than just chasing it off. Cuckoos may sound pleasant but their breeding habits are despicable. I know that's anthropomorphising it, but they are a nasty parasite in terms of other birds.

I have heard plenty in Galway and Tipp.

endainoz · 09-05-2020 2:52pm

cnocbui wrote: »

If I were a crow, I'd be attempting to do more harm than just chasing it off. Cuckoos may sound pleasant but their breeding habits are despicable. I know that's anthropomorphising it, but they are a nasty parasite in terms of other birds.

I have heard plenty in Galway and Tipp.

The bouldness of the cuckoo always has a mystique about them though. A good indication of the summer coming and they are associated with that.

OpenYourEyes · 10-05-2020 9:48pm

DBB wrote: »

They're spring/summer visitors here, they come here to breed. They usually arrive April, and can be heard calling in April and May as the males search for a mate. You just won't hear them at other times of the year as they're either finished mating, or they're just not here!
Crows will certainly chase them off... they parasitise the nests of small birds by throwing the eggs laid by the small bird out of their nest, and laying their own egg in there instead for the small birds to rear the cuckoo chick. Whether they do this to crows I don't know... seems unlikely but perhaps not impossible? Crows will chase off any bird of prey or perceived threat... perhaps they just don't like cuckoos because they look different to what the crows are used to throughout the rest of the year? Happy for a more knowledgeable bird person to fill in the gaps here!

I'd put it down to the fact that Cuckoos resemble Sparrowhawks in flight and appearance! They do that to scare small birds away to allow themselves access to their nests. In different parts of the world, the local cuckoo species resembles the local small hawk/sparrowhawk-equivalent!

Loozer · 10-05-2020 9:53pm

There's a bird or birds , only one, making loud sounds for years in the mornings near my house

No idea what it is and it's certainly not music to listen to

fryup · 10-05-2020 11:20pm

cnocbui wrote: »

If I were a crow, I'd be attempting to do more harm than just chasing it off. Cuckoos may sound pleasant but their breeding habits are despicable. I know that's anthropomorphising it, but they are a nasty parasite in terms of other birds.

:cool:

they're the cute whores of the bird world....i wonder how they evolved to do that? its amazing really

Rows Grower · 11-05-2020 12:13am

cnocbui wrote: »

If I were a crow, I'd be attempting to do more harm than just chasing it off. Cuckoos may sound pleasant but their breeding habits are despicable. I know that's anthropomorphising it, but they are a nasty parasite in terms of other birds.

I have heard plenty in Galway and Tipp.

I have no idea what that word means or even if it is actually a word and I couldn't care less.

I always thought Cuckoos were super cool and when a few weeks ago I got the chance to explain to my youngest lad that that was their call he could hear and their modus operandi he thought they were avian geniuses.

mossie · 11-05-2020 7:59am

Haven't heard one for years in rural North Cork. Did see one a couple of years ago being mobbed by crows though.

Doctors room ghost · 11-05-2020 8:05am

The cuckoo is fierce plenty this year.find yourself a bog near a fir plantation and you’ll find it.best time for to hear them calling is late evening on a calm windless evening.
Oceans of cuckoos this past month in Galway.
If any of ye are stuck in Galway pm me and I’ll send ye a spot to hear it

EagererBeaver · 11-05-2020 8:12am

cnocbui wrote: »

If I were a crow, I'd be attempting to do more harm than just chasing it off. Cuckoos may sound pleasant but their breeding habits are despicable. I know that's anthropomorphising it, but they are a nasty parasite in terms of other birds.

I have heard plenty in Galway and Tipp.

You think? Cuckoos are a family of birds, not a single species. The vast majority of them of raise their own young.

_Brian · 11-05-2020 8:17am

We’re in east cavan.
I remember the cuckoo when I was a child but they disappeared here maybe early 80’s

They returned two years ago, last year we could hear three different birds calling in the afternoons. They returned here 10 days ago and are very vocal.

There is an abundance of insects and flies in this area as it’s not intensively farmed and as a result we get plenty of birds.

ednwireland · 11-05-2020 8:18am

never shut up in the spring here in sw donegal

dogmatix · 11-05-2020 8:33am

I heard one calling just after sunrise last week, while walking in the woods of Carrick hill, Glenealy. Never heard one before, great to hear. Also heard a woodpecker on another morning in the same location.

XLR 8 · 11-05-2020 8:35am

I'm on the Dublin/Wicklow border. Hear them most years up here.

Fr Tod Umptious · 11-05-2020 8:38am

Westernyelp wrote: »

Fairly common sound in Mayo to be heard. All through the years including this year

Always heard the cuckoo at home in Mayo when I was young.

Was up home last May and heard one.

Have been living in rural Kerry for over a decade and have yet to hear one.

Danzy · 11-05-2020 8:38am

Saw one last year as I was setting wild bird cover, it followed me along as I scattered the seed, first time I'd seen one, hear them most years.

Danzy · 11-05-2020 8:42am

dogmatix wrote: »

I heard one calling just after sunrise last week, while walking in the woods of Carrick hill, Glenealy. Never heard one before, great to hear. Also heard a woodpecker on another morning in the same location.

The Irish for Magpie is Snag Breac, the woodpecker died out in the wood clearances by the English in the mid 1600s, the magpie arrived in the 1670s and the name was transferred over due to their slight similarities.

Scotty # · 11-05-2020 12:25pm

_Brian wrote: »

We’re in east cavan.
I remember the cuckoo when I was a child but they disappeared here maybe early 80’s

They returned two years ago, last year we could hear three different birds calling in the afternoons. They returned here 10 days ago and are very vocal.

There is an abundance of insects and flies in this area as it’s not intensively farmed and as a result we get plenty of birds.

Great, perhaps they'll come back to East Meath, Louth, too.

fryup · 12-05-2020 8:32am

Radio 1 Mooney goes wild had a special about them last night

SouthWesterly · 12-05-2020 8:33am

Heard one for the first time yesterday

Doctors room ghost · 13-05-2020 4:58pm

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Heard one for the first time yesterday

They eat a lot of a certain type of caterpillar and the fir plantations are great for producing them so that’s a good place to hear them late evening before the roost.

Don keebals · 13-05-2020 5:31pm

Here in West Cavan/north Leitrim the cuckoo's been calling since early April ,i have heard them at 2.00 am in the morning during the warmer nights last week ,and just today their call has changed to a warbling at the end. "the cuckoo comes in April, she sings her song in may, In June she changes her tune, and July she fly's away"

Whestsidestory · 13-05-2020 5:34pm

Actually saw one for the first time , could hear it all over the place for days and then suddenly it was on the top of a tree in front of me cuckooing away, unfortunately it was against the sun so I couldn't get a proper look at it this was about a month ago

Tiercel Dave · 13-05-2020 6:55pm

Don keebals wrote: »

Here in West Cavan/north Leitrim the cuckoo's been calling since early April ,i have heard them at 2.00 am in the morning during the warmer nights last week ,and just today their call has changed to a warbling at the end. "the cuckoo comes in April, she sings her song in may, In June she changes her tune, and July she fly's away"

All for equality Don but it's the male that calls!.....

The Cush · 13-05-2020 7:31pm

East Co. Limerick, around the Slieve Felim's 1 or 2 of them around here year after year. Always waiting to hear once April arrives and on cue mid April they returned a few weeks ago. It's call would lift your spirits when you first hear it each year.

Years back there were lots of them around but now down to one or two, I've heard it said they are in decline due to birds making their nests earlier because of the earlier milder weather with the eggs hatching earlier leaving fewer potential nests for the later arriving cuckoo.

I've yet to see one in the flesh.

Don keebals · 13-05-2020 7:42pm

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

All for equality Don but it's the male that calls!.....

Yes you are correct the male is the call we are all familiar with but the female is more of a mixture of warbling and cuck cooing ...the saying I was told when I was a cub refering to the cuckoo's as "she" has many variations

catrat12 · 26-05-2020 1:21pm

Heard a cuckoo today up near tibraddon wood in Dublin mountains was very loud and clear also saw a jay delighted

New Home · 26-05-2020 2:05pm

Yes, quite common.

a148pro · 04-06-2020 11:59pm

Tons of Jays in Massey's Wood the other day, heard a Cuckoo in Powerscourt the other night, first time I heard one in Dublin (area), hear them regularly in Connemara this time of year. Always reminds me of a soft warm evening when you hear them.

RandomViewer · 05-06-2020 12:01am

Monday evening ,behind the house, Donegal

LRNM · 05-06-2020 9:55pm

Last Saturday.
https://streamable.com/nhi6c7

Birdnuts · 06-06-2020 12:37am

Saw 2 this week sitting on Wires next to my place near Belmullet

Zaph · 06-06-2020 12:49am

Never heard a cuckoo before until the other day. I was pretty sure that's what it was, but I listened to the bird in the OP's video and it was the same. I think it might have been a bit lost, I'm in D15 and definitely not rural. Haven't heard it since.

TCDStudent1 · 06-06-2020 8:03pm

Regularly hear them in North Galway

Scotty # · 08-06-2020 10:18am

Zaph wrote: »

Never heard a cuckoo before until the other day. I was pretty sure that's what it was, but I listened to the bird in the OP's video and it was the same. I think it might have been a bit lost, I'm in D15 and definitely not rural. Haven't heard it since.

You sure it wasn't a clock?

:p;)

Most unusual to have one in an urban area.

NIMAN · 10-06-2020 10:53pm

Usually woken by bloody pigeons at sunrise, but a few days ago heard a cuckoo, I think for the 1st time ever.

Scotty # · 08-07-2020 7:50pm

Came across this clip on twitter today and thought of this thread.

A freshly fledged Cuckoo being fed by 'Mum & Dad'.

https://twitter.com/morgithology/status/1280422922600013824

Cuckoo calling - is it common to hear them?

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