Birdwatchers have sighted four common cuckoos ( Cuculus canorus ), a bird which usually breeds in Europe and Central and East Asia and winters in Africa, at Avinashi in Tiruppur district.
According to Sathish Senniyappan, a wildlife photographer and member of Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS) who photographed the birds on Monday, two out of the four birds were found to be a male and female based on their external appearances, while the remaining two appeared to be juvenile. The birds were found on his own land near his residence in Rakkiyapalayam in Avinashi.
“As these birds winter in Africa, they usually halt for a short period of time before resuming their migration,” he said, adding that these cuckoos could be passage migrants.
P.B. Balaji, a core committee member of CNS, said that common cuckoos are being repeatedly sighted in and around Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts for around four years despite these locations not being a part of its regular migratory route towards Africa. “These might be establishing a new migratory route,” he said, adding that extensive studies are required to ascertain this.
Male and female cuckoos being sighted together is also a rarity as male and female birds usually migrate separately, he said. The male cuckoos have a grey plumage and generally have no barrings (lines on plumage) on its head, while the female birds will have a brownish plumage with barrings extending up to the throat area, Mr. Balaji said.
The name ‘common cuckoo’ was likely given by the British as these are found widespread in Europe, he said. Being a brood parasite (a bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds), common cuckoos are also adept at visual mimicry, where it mimics a bird of prey while flying overhead to scare away other bird species such as warblers from their nests, Mr. Balaji noted.
Mr. Senniyappan pointed out that another unusual characteristic of these birds is its diet, which consists of mostly caterpillars and winged termites ( easal in Tamil) that other bird species generally do not consume.
