CUCKOOS not model parents!

Cuckoos are birds in the family Cuculidae, which worldwide also includes species such as the roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. There are 33 genera with 147 known species. The subfamily Cuculinae are the cuckoos of the Old World (Africa, Europe and Asia) and these are all obligate brood parasite breeders. This means they do not build nests or rear their own chicks. They lay their eggs in the nests of other host species that incubate them and rear the chicks until they become independent.

Interestingly, most other species in the family are not brood parasites and the cuckoos’ closest relatives in the Kruger, the coucals (of the subfamily ) are also not. These include the Burchell’s, Senegal and black coucals. But it is not only the cuckoos that are brood parasites. The whydahs, indigobirds, honeyguides and honeybirds have also adopted this breeding