What do children know about cuckoo:
- Cuckoo is one of the most famous birds, we know about it since childhood, thanks to the characteristic sounds that she makes: ku -ku. However, few have seen a cuckoo live. This bird always hides in the foliage and almost does not go down to the ground. It is small, gray with stripes on the neck.
- Cuckoos are very cunning birds, they do not curl their nests, but put their eggs in other people’s nests. Moreover, the color of cuckoo eggs is very similar to the color of the eggs of those birds in whose nests it puts eggs. Moreover, in different areas, cuckoo eggs have different coloring, it depends on which birds prevail in a given area and under whom the cuckoo masks their eggs. The process of throwing the egg itself passes in a few seconds: the cuckoo, hiding in the bushes, watches the nest when the birds leave it unattended, it flies up, eats one of the eggs, and puts her instead of it.
- The cuckoo chicks hatch blind, but very agile, immediately begin to spin in the nest and very often throw out the still disadvantaged eggs and other chicks from the nest. Kukutsat is more active and demanding than other chicks, pour them out and first receive food from parents. It is interesting that Kukuts, growing up, sometimes become much larger than their foster parents, leave the nest, still ask for food from them, and their parents feed them.
- The cuckoo feeds on insects and sometimes berries.
- Why dolls a cuckoo: as a rule, only males, calling females, are doll. The cuckoo male dolls and denotes its territory, driving away other males of cuckoos. Cuckoos have no steam and families, this is a single bird.
- Cuckoo is a migratory bird, every day it can fly a distance of 70-80 km.
The story of a cuckoo around the world:
In the spring forest, almost all birds build nests except cuckoo. She watches other birds and is waiting for them to finish construction to lay down their egg. As soon as the bird flies away, the cuckoo lays the egg, and takes someone else with him in the vein and throws. She can leave the future chick in the nests of a wagtail, urticaries, mountains, foam, flycatoks and still in the nests of the wader and the hollow of the woodpecker.
If the bird does not fly away from its nest, then the cuckoo uses its resemblance to the hawk, which is afraid of forest birds, scaring them. The male helps her in this, when he distracts the attention of the birds, the cuckoo lays eggs in their nests. After 11 days, the cuckoo hatches from the egg, he throws out his consolidated brothers and sisters from the nest. The chick grows very quickly and can reach large sizes than foster parents.
Cuckoo, photos for children:
The cuckoo is easier to hear what to see. A familiar and unforgettable ‘ku-ku’ portends the beginning of spring, when cuckoos return from wintering from Africa or from Southeast Asia.
There are more than a hundred species of cuckoos. These birds are widespread both in temperate and tropical regions. Some species of cuckoo live even in tropical forests and in the desert.
The plumage of the cuckoo can vary greatly – from the usual muffled colors, to various shades of gray -yellow.
The cuckoo has a beak curved downward, pointed wings, and dull -color feathers. Cuckoos differ in size, average size – about 30 cm in length.
Most cuckoo has a long tail and short legs. But there are exceptions. So, the California earthen cuckoo has very long legs, it lives in the desert and is able to develop speed as a good runner – up to 25 km per hour.
A story about a cuckoo that may be suitable for the 2nd grade. Language can be a little simplified, of course. But when the student will tell, his speech will involuntarily become simpler and more affordable when he will choose the most understandable for himself. It will be an independent part of the work. And for now we will write the text in more official language. So that, if necessary, and for grades 5-6-7.
An ordinary cuckoo is a little similar to a small hawk if someone saw him. This similarity is manifested in the nature of the flight, in the details of the plumage and in the form of the head.
The cuckoo can be found in subtropical forests, and in the forest -tunra, and even in the desert. Since this bird is migratory, the cuckoo spends the winter in Asia (tropical latitudes) and in Africa.
It is easy to imagine the size of the cuckoo, it is enough to compare with an ordinary pigeon, though the cuckoo is a little more vague.
The mass of the cuckoo ranges from 80 to 190 grams, and the body length is from 32 to 34 centimeters.
In the male (adult), the entire upper body (including the head) has a dark gray color. White abdomen with transverse dark stripes. Goiter and throat is also gray, but slightly lighter than the top.
The color of females is of two types: by the type of phase and by the type of morph. Complex are very words, but these are also in science. The type of morph is very similar to males, there are only minor differences and only specialists can see them. But another color, type of phase, very strikingly distinguishes the male from the female. The top of the bird is red -rusty, the bottom is white, on the sides – a dark strip. Sandlemes are absent only on the lower back – this is the main distinguishing feature.
The legs of the cuckoo have a zigodactyl structure (another very incomprehensible word), this means that the fingers are directed in opposite directions, as if spread out, two back and two forward. Movement on the ground is difficult for her, but vertically moved quite easily a cuckoo with this structure of paws. Yellow has the legs of both a male and females. Around the eye a leather ring bright orange. The rainbow in females and males are yellow, red – nut.
Cuckoos, as usual, lead a silent and hidden lifestyle. And only in the spring, to continue offspring, they become noisy and noticeable. Measured, loud, often and continuously repeated scream “Ku-ku … ku-ku …” is the male marriage song. Females also make sounds during this period, but they are shorter-they are more like a low vibrating whistle or gurgling ringing trill similar to ‘kli-proky …’. If you pick up the cuckoo in your hands, it will begin to squeak. She won’t like it.
Nesting parasite – this is what a cuckoo is called due to the fact that she puts her egg in other people’s nests. And often throwing the eggs of the owners of the nest. If this was not done by a cuckoo-mother, then the already hatched chick, getting rid of food competitors, throws the egg out of the nest. Can you imagine – the guest himself, and the owners can throw it down! How he does it, you can see in the photo below. 
Report (message) about the cuckoo:
Cuckoo is a rather famous bird, it is almost impossible to confuse its ‘ku-ku’ with the voices of other birds. A person who does not know how to distinguish between the singing of birds will easily recognize the singing of the cuckoo. This sound served to call it that.
The bird is not large (length from approximately 32 to 34 centimeters), a little larger a dove, and its weight is only 100-150 grams.
The tail of the cuckoo is long, the plumage is gray-white, in the paws of 4 fingers (2 back and 2 front). On the legs are long ‘pants’ from feathers. Has a similarity with a hawk, and this promotes survival.
Range Hails African – Africa, Asia and the whole of Europe. Taiga, steppes and forests are inhabited by these birds. Cuckoo is a migratory bird, so we (in Russia) appear in April, and fly away in September. Winters in warm countries of Africa, India and China.
It is difficult to study the behavior of this bird, as it is very secretive and careful.
Cuckoo nutrition is various insects, eating them, it brings significant benefits to agriculture. And her appetite is good, in a day a cuckoo can eat, think about these numbers: 15 lizards, 40 worms, 30 grasshoppers and 1,500 caterpillars.
The cuckoo puts its eggs in the nests of other birds, they, as it were, become guardians. This is explained by the fact that the number of eggs is large, so the cuckoo will not be able to preserve and feed offspring, since the cuckoo chicks are as voracious, like their parents. Substitution may not be noticed, because cuckoo eggs are small. Cuckoo care for his offspring is to find a good guardian. Eggs of the mistress of the nest can be just thrown out with a cuckoo.
The word ‘cuckoo’ in our people became a household man, due to the fact that this bird throws its eggs into the nests of other birds. The cuckoo has long become the heroine of many sayings and will accept.
A cuckoo lives from 5 to 10 years in nature, in captivity there are much more – up to 25 to 40 years.
Interesting Facts:
- When singing (dolling), the bird sways slightly from side to side, lifts and straightens the tail.
- Hearing in the forest or the Ku-Ku park, the person asks the bird, how many more he is allotted to live. And then counts every ‘ku -ku’ – this is one year.
- Eating caterpillars is an interesting ritual: first of all, the head of the insect breaks, then, through rotation in the air, the contents of the intestines shakes it out, and only after the extraction is swallowed.
- City sparrows can immediately recognize the Kukushin egg, so they throw it out of their nest.
- The cuckoo seeks to put the egg in the nest of that bird that fed it itself. It can be a white wagtail, a dungeon, a forest hills, a gardener. More often, the size of the guardians is much smaller than the pouring cuckoo.
Cuckoo is one of the most common and at the same time the most noticeable birds of our forests. Not even seeing her, it can be easily heard, and not without reason the Romans called the cuckoo melodic. Although there is no special melody in the inviting cry of the cuckoo, but it is very loud and you can always ask a cuckoo, a cuckoo, how old I have been left?’But you don’t have to ask this question to the cuckoo in early spring, because at this time cuckoos are cucko.
Cuckoos live throughout Eurasia, and winter in the southern parts – Asia and in Africa.
The cuckoo is a rather large bird, and the external appearance even resembles a hawk, but the similarity is a superficial. Also, the cuckoo is known for its habit of throwing eggs into the nests of other birds, because the cuckoo itself does not build a nest. But the fertility of the cuckoo surpasses many other species – it can bring up to 25 eggs per season, although of course they survive from the chicks of the cuckoo unit.
Cuckoo poultry is insectivorous and is distinguished by enviable appetite.
The cuckoo in its size and tail shape looks like a forty but the color is not like a magpie – black and white, but grown like a partridge. The cuckoo is a special bird and differs from other birds in that it does not drive a nest for laying eggs, but uses other people’s nests – it puts her eggs in the nests of other birds. The cuckoo hatching from the egg is fed by the foster parents and the cuckoo begins to grow actively, ahead of the growth of other chicks and it becomes closely in the nest, so the cuckoo pushes the rest of the chicks out of the nest. As a result, the kukushonok is left alone in the nest, and the foster parents-birds continue to feed it until it grows up completely.
Below I gave you a story about a cuckoo specially written for children, so that this story was an example for you.
Gray cuckoo, grip.
When spring returns, we are glad to hear birds singing. Among many votes, we can highlight one song, very characteristic and famous: “ku-ku”. Hence, by the way, the name of the bird is a gray cuckoo.
Gray cuckoo – Bird of the Cuculiformes detachment.
These birds are located between the pigeon and the starling.
The males have a blue-gray plumage on the back, neck and head, and the stomach is striped. Their beak is gray and their legs are yellow. As for females, there are two types of them:
Cuckoo The most common bird. It can be found on almost all continents of the globe. There are about one hundred and six species of this bird. Cuckoos usually eat insects and larvae, this is the most favorite diet of these birds. The cuckoo delicacies are furry caterpillars. Cuckoo is always brought in a bad example of the care of their children. Cuckoo bad mother. These birds do not build nests and do not hatch the chicks. The cuckoo lays his eggs to the ground, and then transfer its offspring in its beak and throws it to the nests to other birds. Seven, ten years can live in the natural environment. These birds have a good appetite. Among the usual caterpillars, sometimes poisonous, cuckoo will come across and swallow such and does not blink an eye. 