The Cuckoo Lays Its Eggs in Other Birds' Nests
A cuckoo is a bird named for its call. Its breeding strategy gave English the word cuckold and a lasting reputation for deceit.
A cuckoo is a bird famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species. The chick usually hatches first and pushes out the host's eggs, leaving foster parents to raise a nestling many times their own size. That behaviour gave English *cuckold*, once used of a man whose wife had a child by another — a word built entirely on the bird's habits.
- A bird with a distinctive call. *A calling cuckoo.*
- Mad (informal). *He has gone cuckoo.*
- Cuckoo clock — a clock with a bird figure. *A Swiss cuckoo clock.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cuckoo | A common cuckoo. |
| Plural | cuckoos | Migrating cuckoos. |
| Adjective | cuckoo | Gone cuckoo. |
| Related | cuckold | An old word, cuckold. |
| Related | brood parasite | A brood parasite. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The cuckoo is a brood parasite.The technical term.
- The first cuckoo marks spring in Britain.A traditional sign.
- A cuckoo in the nest.An unwelcome intruder.
Brood parasitism
- Egg mimicry — cuckoo eggs often match the host's
- Fast hatching — the chick emerges first
- Eviction — it pushes out the other eggs or chicks
- Host races — different cuckoo lineages specialise in different hosts
- Arms race — hosts evolve better egg recognition, cuckoos better mimicry
From Old French *cucu*, imitating the bird's call. *Cuckold* comes from the same source, from the bird's habit of laying in another's nest.
Do all cuckoos parasitise other nests?
No. Around forty per cent of cuckoo species do; the rest raise their own young.
Where does *cuckold* come from?
From the cuckoo's habit of leaving its eggs in another bird's nest. The word is now archaic.