Cuckoos
This reading profile brings together 5 source-linked articles that reference cuckoos.
Explore Fauna’s source-checked field guides and research articles covering cuckoos, or search the species catalog below for individual species profiles.Source-linked reading
- Field guideBrood parasitism explainedSome birds occasionally lay in neighbors' nests, while obligate brood parasites depend on hosts for reproduction. Parasites must reach a suitable nest and their young must survive there; hosts may recognize adults, eggs, or chicks, but every defensive choice carries risks and costs.
- Field guideCoevolution and evolutionary arms racesA host defense can favor parasite countermeasures, and those countermeasures can favor new host defenses. Pollinators and flowers can also impose reciprocal selection. The evolutionary response may escalate, cycle, stabilize, vary across landscapes, or involve many species, so a close fit between partners is not by itself proof of a two-species arms race.
- Field guideBird migration 101Each spring and fall, many North American birds move between breeding and nonbreeding ranges. Much songbird migration happens at night, while other groups move by day.
- Field guideBird tracks and toe patternsBird footprints are easiest to read as a trail, not a single stamp. Start with toe geometry, then use webbing, stride, size, and habitat to build a cautious identification.
- Field guideHow birds navigate during migrationMigration requires both a heading and a way to relate the bird's current position to a destination. Different birds combine inherited programs, learned landmarks, and several sensory cues, with no single mechanism explaining every journey.