Cuckoo calls sound like hawks to distract the birds they’re preying on Distraction results in a lower chance of their eggs getting the boot.

Although male cuckoo calls are thought to play a role in territorial defence — only males make the famous ‘cuck-oo’ call that gives the bird its name — the role of the female call, known ...

The female bird makes a different and much sneakier sound than the male. The female cuckoo mimics the call of a hawk to distract nest-owners. Credit: blickwinkel/Alamy ...

The common hawk-cuckoo calls the tune It is vocal through the day, and its three-note call enunciates the term “brain fever”. The bird is in its breeding season and residents of IIT-M campus ...

MOVE OVER! What does a baby cuckoo look like, do they steal other birds nests and what does their call sound like?

The city’s first bird call competition drew millions of views around the world for its quirky contestants and realistic sounds.

Article continues below this ad I've seen birds in the cuckoo family in several countries, including Costa Rica's squirrel cuckoo and East Africa's white-browed coucal.

The bird is quite scarce in west Mayo. On my own bare hillside I seem to see the cuckoo more often than I hear it, teetering on a wire or flying low over the walls with one or two meadow pipits in ...