Who does not like to be in the summer forest and listen to the birds singing? Overflows of bird voices caress the ear, bring positive and the desire to forget about all the problems.
Each bird sings in its own way - some flooded with trill, others stubbornly bang their beaks on the trunk of the tree, and among the third you hear monotonous crowing. Hearing this sound, everyone is trying quickly out loud or to himself to ask the bird the question: “Cuckoo, cuckoo, how long do I have to live?” And what do we know about this interesting bird, besides the hope of its prediction? What is the use of cuckoo for the forest, is also known to few.
Between us cuckoos, speaking
Perhaps there is rarely a forest bird with which so many past, beliefs and predictions can be associated. It is easy to notice on a branch, since it has a rather large size: the length of the body reaches 35-45 cm. Although its weight is small, only 100 g. The feather color is different, often with grayish, black or brownish hues.
Cuckoo's behavior is often inexplicable. The bird is hiding, hiding in the thicket of branches, it is often impossible to look at it. And at the same time it is completely incomprehensible what benefit the cuckoo brings.
Kukushata and the naughty cuckoo mom
How often can one hear about parent birds caring for their offspring. These are swans, crows, other forest birds. They guard their babies, foreseeing danger for themselves, feed them, warm them. And the cuckoo is a special bird.
She does not advertise herself, hides, does not hatch her own chicks, much less does not care about them and does not feed. Cuckoos arrive in Russia from South Africa in small groups. It is interesting that at first the males fly, then after a few weeks the females arrive. What benefits are brought to the forest by the cuckoo, few know, but it has been established that these birds regularly leave offspring. Therefore, the nature of the need for birds feathered.
If you hear the crowing of a bird, it means that it has reached the mating season. A whole choir of males and females accompanies you in the forest. If it is time to lay eggs, the female immediately begins to search for the nest. But she does not build it herself. To do this, she will stir up a strange nest of those birds that will feed her offspring. If there are eggs in the selected nest, the cuckoo will eat, throw or take them away without a twinge of conscience. By the way, the hatched cuckoo can also throw or eat someone else's egg. But this is not a cuckoo's good for the forest. On the contrary, some species of birds die due to foundlings, but there is still some benefit from the cuckoo.
Foster parents cuckoo
A cuckoo hatches up to 10-25 eggs at a time, which she patiently distributes to other people's nests, laying one in each. In late July, with a clear conscience, the cuckoo leaves the forests and its offspring, flies to South Africa. The use of cuckoo for the forest is not obvious, most people generally consider this bird useless.
Well, the chicks remain in the care of the adoptive parents. In fairness, I must say that little cuckoos are voracious, always waiting for new parents with open beaks and snatch goodies directly from their beaks, without waiting for treats from their parents. After a couple of weeks, the cuckoo grows stronger and is able to fly out of the receiving nest. They begin to populate forests or open glades. Birds live from 5 to 10 years. This is how the well-known cuckoo adapts itself from childhood. What is the use of the forest? This can be found later in the article.
What is the behavior of the cuckoo?
There are many suggestions explaining the behavior of birds. Some scientists believe that there is a direct connection with life, a way of eating. As you know, the bird feeds on huge African shaggy caterpillars and there is no way to feed them chicks. The birds’diet includes beetles, fillies, insect larvae, bird eggs, and sometimes wild berries.
According to another assumption, cuckoos lay too many eggs and are not able to feed future offspring. A cuckoo doesn’t accept someone else’s chick next to him. It should be only one. The use of cuckoo for the forest is very vague, but still it exists.
Is the cuckoo useful or harmful?
Nature is created in such a way that there is nothing superfluous in it. All living things have the right to live side by side with other groups of animals, birds or plants. A cuckoo protects plants from the invasion of caterpillars by eating them. And since these birds do not suffer from appetite, the benefits of the forest are excellent. A huge amount of harmful insects is eaten by this bird.
A cuckoo benefits the forest by eating pests, which not all birds eat. If the bird did not like to feast on the caterpillars, then in our forests there would not be so much greenery.
