Habits and Characteristics of the Cuckoo and Its Benefits to Agriculture and Forestry

The cuckoo is a collective name for birds of the family Cuculidae in the order Cuculiformes. It is found in most parts of China, with common species including the common cuckoo and the four-note cuckoo. It has a slender body, rather pointed wings and a fairly long tail, and its plumage is mostly greyish brown. Because its call sounds like "cuckoo, cuckoo," people also commonly call it the cuckoo bird.

The most unusual thing about the cuckoo is its breeding method. It generally does not build its own nest or incubate its own eggs; instead, it lays its eggs in the nests of other small birds, and foster parents such as reed warblers hatch and raise the young on its behalf. After the cuckoo chick hatches, it often pushes the original eggs or other chicks out of the nest, monopolising the food the foster parents bring back. This habit is known in ornithology as brood parasitism.

In terms of food, the cuckoo feeds mainly on insects, and is especially fond of caterpillars that many birds dare not touch, such as pine caterpillars and other agricultural and forestry pests. During the breeding season, cuckoos can prey on a considerable number of pests, which helps protect forests and farmland, so they are generally regarded as beneficial birds.

It is worth mentioning that the cuckoo shares its name with the azalea, and the two are often associated with each other. The saying of the cuckoo crying blood is widely circulated in classical poetry, and since its call often rings out during the spring ploughing season, as if urging on the farm work, this bird carries a unique imagery in traditional culture.