Cuckoo Facts

I feel more comfortable meandering in a forest, than surfing the world wide web. In Ukraine it was quite a soulful experience to traipse down overgrown trails looking for clues about past lives. It was on one such walk that I heard the cuckoo call.

Cuckoos are shy birds. You can hear, but rarely see them. So I have no photo to share. When I started researching them back home, I was fascinated. They are very interesting birds.
Here are some facts:

1. Cuckoos don't build their own nests..
2. Cuckoos don't look after their own eggs.
3. Cuckoos don't feed their own young.
4. Cuckoos will spy on other birds waiting for a chance to lay their egg in a strange nest.
5. Freshly hatched cuckoos will proceed to push the other eggs out of the nest so that they can get all the food and attention from their foster mom.
6. Cuckoos are seen as threatening and can be attacked by other birds.
7. It's the male cuckoo who makes the cuckoo sound. He's calling for a mate.
8. Cuckoo babies will often grow larger than their foster mom.
9. Cuckoo birds, unlike cuckoo clocks, can't tell time.
10. A cuckold is a man whose wife is unfaithful.

Mmm. Bird brains are simply amazing. And those Ukrainian forests are complicated places.