Common cuckoo Common cuckoo The common cuckoo ("Cuculus canorus") is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, "Cuculiformes", which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of dunnocks, meadow pipits, and reed warblers. Although its eggs are larger than those of its hosts, the eggs in each type of host nest resemble the host's eggs. The adult too is a mimic, in its case of the sparrowhawk;
Pallid cuckoo cuckoo occurs between July and December. The pallid cuckoo is a generalist brood parasite. Brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species, abandoning their egg and leaving it to the care of the host bird whose nest it is in. If the host does not detect the intrusion and subsequently reject the egg it will raise the resulting chick as its own. It is recorded to have exploited over 100 different species of passerines, though all major hosts belong to the family Meliphagidae. Common host species include honeyeaters, Australasian robins and willy wagtails. Pallid cuckoo The pallid