A couple of questions about Cuckoos (1 Viewer)

A Couple of Questions about Cuckoos

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about Cuckoos. I think I saw a couple of Cuckoos the other day at this park that I like to go to. I am not an expert on birding and I don't have a good camera to take pictures. I really believe what I saw was some type of cuckoo, the yellow billed cuckoo or the black-billed cuckoo. It was flying sort of weird acrobatically in a funny cuckoo like way. So I was wondering if it is possible that I saw Cuckoos at this park. And also being the most visible birds at this park (where I also saw Robins, Cedar Waxwings, Rock doves..) The Cuckoos seemed to steal the show.

The books I have say that the Cuckoo is super shy and reclusive. The birds I saw did not seem to be super shy. They were at a park flying between trees. But they were visible. And they seemed to want to be seen. So I was wondering if Cuckoos are actually prefer to be in sociable around human settings.
Next, was wondering about Cuckoo intelligence. Are cuckoos as intelligent as a crow or raven? Because I read that Cuckoos are brood parasites. And also that cuckoos are promiscuous. So I was wondering those two things qualify as intelligence? Like chimpanzees and monkeys are promiscuous and they are closely related to humans. And that brood parasite thing, as bad as it sounds seems like it has worked to an evolutionary advantage for the cuckoo. And I don't know of too many other birds that do that. And I have seen some youtube videos of RoadRunners (related to cuckoos) hunting animals. And I don't know if they are intelligent but they definitely look balsy. Going after things like Rattlesnakes and big animals on the ground! And persistently.

Thanks,

A point for clarification: it is Old World cuckoos that are brood parasites; yours (Yellow- and Black-billed) raise their own young.


How shy different cuckoos are also varies. The species in Europe is quite shy (some birds they parasitise have now evolved to breed close to people, to avoid cuckoos). I suspect the American ones are a bit less shy.

Nutcracker said:

I suspect the American ones are a bit less shy.

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Nah, if anything, American Cuckoos a bit more shy than European counterparts. Sibley uses the word 'inconspicuous' to describe them and that sounds about right. I certainly didn't see any sitting out on conspicuous perches calling endlessly - as 'ours' are prone to do at times - in nine years living in New Jersey, despite both breeding on the patch. OP you don't give any description. I assume you were in Texas?Have you looked at Anis in your book? They look a bit like Cuckoos and hang about conspicuously in the open. If you only saw them against the light....?

I am from Texas. I am in North Dakota now. For work. I have been here for about three months. I am hoping that what I saw was a cuckoo because I have never seen one. You see a lot of birds in the north that you don't see in the south. In Texas I never saw an Ani. I know what they are. They are cool looking I've seen pictures of them. Kind of like black weird looking crows.

The bird I saw was dark on top and white below. So I weighted possibly it was a type of Jay. Poossibly a mockingbird. But I've seen tons of mockingbirds in Texas and it wasn't that. The head of the bird kind of looked Kingfisher-ish. But there are no ponds or anything at this park. I am hoping it's a Cuckoo because it is Cuckoo sized. To me that's what it looked like. But I am not a bird expert. Also it had a tendancy to dive down to the ground. But then immediately fly up to the very top of a tall pine tree. And look around like it was surveying the whole area. Then it would dive bomb back down (almost to the ground.) And do some weird acrobatics, usually with its partner. It was way more fun to watch than a mockingbird. And it didn't make the obnoxious noises that Jays make. I think it chirped. And in Texas they have Roadrunners, which I know are related to Cuckoos. And I have seen a few roadrunners. This to me, it's behavior did remind me of a roadrunner. The way it would do weird miscellaneous stuff. Like not fly in a straight path to one place. But stop and do acrobatic or silly things. And that seemed to be its constant routine.

Hi,

Nutcracker said:

How shy different cuckoos are also varies. The species in Europe is quite shy (some birds they parasitise have now evolved to breed close to people, to avoid cuckoos).

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Quite fascinating, thanks for pointing this out!

It's my impression that juvenile Common Cuckoos are not as shy as adult birds, but I guess that's probably a universal phenomenon with birds.

Regards,

Henning

Hauksen said:

Hi,

Quite fascinating, thanks for pointing this out!

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Some details in Journal of Ornithology here :t: