David Penty British Library Cuckoo Recording of the song of the cuckoo. The British summer would not be complete without the unmistakeable two-tone song of the male cuckoo. In flight this bird displays a long tail and pointed wings, resulting in it being often mistaken for a sparrowhawk. Its slender bill is ideal for eating insects, spiders, worms and centipedes. The adult male has grey upperparts and pale underparts, the latter being strongly barred. Females are similar although some individuals can appear brown.The cuckoo is not a nest-builder because it is a parasite of other birds. The female will substitute her own egg with one from a clutch in a nest, which has been momentarily left by the parent birds. The cuckoo chick will emerge before the host?s offspring, giving it the opportunity to expel the other eggs. The chick?s feeding call is unusual. Scientists believe that this sound mimics that of a brood of chicks, fooling the foster parents that they are rearing a number of birds, rather than one oversized individual. The cuckoo is a summer visitor, arriving from Africa in early spring. It usually leaves in August. Destruction of suitable habitats, such as woodland and wetland areas, together with the influence of pesticides on its food supply has helped this elegant bird to become scarce. There are currently between 13,000 to 27,000 breeding pairs. sounds.bl.uk/022M-W1CDR0001375-0400V0 W1CDR0001375 BD4 1960s http://sounds.bl.uk/JISC ASR IPR STATUS LIST.xls Shove, Lawrence OS Grid Reference(641500,323500) Birds sound 1 1 1 1 1 0 Cuckoo British Wildlife Recordings 1960 BL Product Identifier :W1CDR0001375 BD4 022 British Wildlife Recordings, Wildlife W1CDR0001375 AB 022M-W1CDR0001375-0400V0 00:00:41 00:00:41