cuckoo

cuckoo
/kooh"kooh, kook"ooh/, n., pl. cuckoos, v., cuckooed, cuckooing, adj.
n.
1. a common European bird, Cuculus canorus, of the family Cuculidae, noted for its characteristic call and its brood parasitism.
2. any of several other birds of the family Cuculidae.
3. the call of the cuckoo, or an imitation of it.
4. Slang. a crazy, silly, or foolish person; simpleton.
v.i.
5. to utter the call of the cuckoo or an imitation of it.
v.t.
6. to repeat monotonously.
adj.
7. Slang. crazy; silly; foolish.
8. of, pertaining to, or like a cuckoo.
[1200-50; ME cuc(c)u, cuccuk(e) (imit.); cf. L cuculus, F coucou, G Kuckuk, D koekoek, ModGk koûko]

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Any of some 138 species of tree-dwelling and terrestrial birds of the family Cuculidae.

They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical regions but are most diverse in the Old World tropics. New World species are sometimes classified as a separate family (Coccyzidae) and include the roadrunner. Cuckoos range from 6.5 to 36 in. (16 to 90 cm) long. Most are drab gray, but a few are partially or completely brightly coloured or iridescent. Aside from the European cuckoo's familiar two-note call, cuckoos are best known for their habit of brood parasitism (see cowbird); their eggs resemble those of the host species (egg mimicry), and the adult cuckoo removes one or more host eggs to ensure that the substitution is not detected. The newly hatched cuckoo may also eject eggs or nestlings.

Cuckoo (Cuculus).

Graeme Chapman/Ardea London

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bird
 any of numerous birds of the family Cuculidae (order Cuculiformes). The name usually designates some 60 arboreal members of the subfamilies Cuculinae and Phaenicophaeinae. In western Europe “cuckoo,” without modifiers, refers to the most common local form, elsewhere called the common, or European, cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Many cuckoos have specialized names, such as ani, coua, coucal, guira, and roadrunner (qq.v.). Members of the subfamily Neomorphinae are called ground cuckoos (see ground cuckoo).

      The family Cuculidae is worldwide, found in temperate and tropical regions but is most diverse in the Old World tropics. Cuculids tend to be shy inhabitants of thick vegetation, more often heard than seen. Many species are named for the sounds they make, e.g., brain-fever bird (a hawk cuckoo, Cuculus varius), koel (Eudynamys scolopacea), and the term cuckoo itself, the latter two names being imitations of the bird's song.

      Cuculids range in length from about 16 cm (6.5 inches) in the glossy cuckoos (Chrysococcyx and Chalcites) to about 90 cm (36 inches) in the larger ground cuckoos. Most are coloured in drab grays and browns, but a few have striking patches of rufous (reddish) or white, and the glossy cuckoos are largely or partially shining emerald green. Some of the tropical cuckoos have strongly iridescent bluish plumage on their backs and wings. With the exception of a few strongly migratory species, most cuckoos are short-winged. All have long (sometimes extremely long), graduated tails, usually with the individual feathers tipped with white. The legs vary from medium to rather long (in the terrestrial forms) and the feet are zygodactyl; i.e., the outer toe is reversed, pointing backward. The bill is rather stout and somewhat downcurved.

      The attribute for which the cuckoos are best known is the habit of brood parasitism, found in all of the Cuculinae and three species of Phaenicophaeinae. It consists of laying the eggs singly in the nests of certain other bird species to be incubated by the foster parents, who rear the young cuckoo. Among the 47 species of cuculines, various adaptations enhance the survival of the young cuckoo: egg mimicry, in which the cuckoo egg resembles that of the host, thus minimizing rejection by the host; removal of one or more host eggs by the adult cuckoo, reducing both the competition from host nestlings and the danger of recognition by the host that an egg has been added to the nest; and nest-mate ejection, in which the young cuckoo heaves from the nest the host's eggs and nestlings. Some species of Cuculus resemble certain bird-eating hawks (Accipiter) in appearance and mannerisms, apparently frightening the potential host and allowing the cuckoo to approach the nest unmolested.

      The nonparasitic phaenicophaeine cuckoos are represented in North America by the widespread yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus and C. erythropthalmus) and the mangrove cuckoo (C. minor), which is restricted in the United States to coastal southern Florida (also found in the West Indies and Mexico to northern South America); they are represented in Central and South America by about 12 other species, some placed in the genera Piaya (squirrel cuckoos) and Saurothera (lizard cuckoos). The 13 Old World phaenicophaeine species are divided among nine genera.

      The phaenicophaeine cuckoos build flimsy stick nests in low vegetation. Both parents share in incubation and feeding the young.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cuckoo — Cuck oo (k[oo^]k [=oo]), n. [OE. coccou, cukkow, F. coucou, prob. of imitative origin; cf. L. cuculus, Gr. ????, Skr. k?ki?a, G. kuckuk, D. koekoek.] (Zo[ o]l.) A bird belonging to {Cuculus}, {Coccyzus}, and several allied genera, of many species …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cuckoo — [ko͞o′ko͞o΄; ] also [ kook′o͞o] n. [ME < OFr coucou, cucu, echoic of the bird s cry] 1. any of a family (Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes) of birds with a long, slender body, grayish brown on top and white below: many, including the European… …   English World dictionary

  • cuckoo — (n.) mid 13c., from O.Fr. cocu cuckoo, also cuckold, echoic of the male bird s mating cry (Cf. Gk. kokkyx, L. cuculus, M.Ir. cuach, Skt. kokilas). Slang sense of crazy (adj.) is American English, 1918, but noun meaning stupid person is first… …   Etymology dictionary

  • cuckoo — ► NOUN ▪ a grey or brown bird known for the two note call of the male and for the habit of laying its eggs in the nests of small songbirds. ► ADJECTIVE informal ▪ crazy. ORIGIN Old French cucu, imitative of its call …   English terms dictionary

  • Cuckoo — For other uses, see Cuckoo (disambiguation). Cuckoo s nest redirects here. For other uses, see Cuckoo s nest (disambiguation). Cuckoos Yellow billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) …   Wikipedia

  • cuckoo — 1. adjective /ˈkʊkuː,ˈkuːkuː/ Crazy; not sane. 2. noun /ˈkʊkuː,ˈkuːkuː/ a) Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae (from Latin cuculus cuckoo), famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially the Common Cuckoo,… …   Wiktionary

  • cuckoo — /ˈkʊku / (say kookooh) noun 1. any of various birds of the widespread family Cuculidae, including the bronze cuckoos, many of which lay eggs in the nests of other birds which then raise the cuckoo s young, as the fan tailed cuckoo, Cacomantis… …  

  • cuckoo — n. & adj. n. any bird of the family Cuculidae, esp. Cuculus canorus, having a characteristic cry, and depositing its eggs in the nests of small birds. predic.adj. sl. crazy, foolish. Phrases and idioms: cuckoo clock a clock that strikes the hour… …   Useful english dictionary

  • cuckoo — cuck·oo || kÊŠkuː n. European songbird; bird related to the European cuckoo bird; call of the cuckoo bird characterized by two notes ; (Slang) crazy person, goofball, foolish person adj. of or pertaining to the cuckoo bird; resembling the… …   English contemporary dictionary

  • cuckoo — I. noun (plural cuckoos) Etymology: Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin Date: 13th century 1. a largely grayish brown European bird (Cuculus canorus) that is a parasite given to laying its eggs in the nests of other birds which hatch them… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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