One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock! Quiz

Answer: Brood parasitism

Brood parasitism is the technical term for the cuckoo's practice of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. The cuckoo will wait until a host nest is unguarded then remove one of the host bird's eggs from the nests, and replace it with one of their own. Some species of cuckoo have even evolved so that their eggs are a close mimic of those of their favourite host species. The common cuckoo generally picks on dunnocks, meadow pipits and reed warblers.

Unfortunately the bad behaviour doesn't end there as most cuckoo chicks when they hatch will shove any of the host birds' un-hatched eggs or even live chicks out of the nest. Cuckoo chicks are often much bigger than those of the host birds and require all of the food their surrogate parents can provide in order to survive.

The common cuckoo has a generally grey plumage and spends the summer in Europe or Asia before returning to Africa for the winter. This is the only species of cuckoo I would ever be likely to attract using a cuckoo clock set up in my back garden in southern England. So, to find other species (and manage more than a one question quiz) I clearly need to pack up my cuckoo clock and set off on a world tour...

Answer: Brainfever bird

The three-note call used by the common hawk-cuckoo apparently sounds a bit like "brain fee-ver", hence the nickname. The term is also applied to other species with repetitive or monotonous calls (which are presumably irritating enough to induce a brain fever!)

The common hawk-cuckoo is not a strange hybrid of a hawk and a cuckoo. It actually gained its official name due to the fact that its plumage mimics that of the shikra (or little banded goshawk), a small bird of prey.

I was a little concerned that my trusty cuckoo clock would be useless for attracting the attention of a bird that is not known for calling out "cuckoo" at every given opportunity. Fortunately though it only took a few hours (and numerous "cuckoos") for the common hawk-cuckoo to put in an appearance overhead.

Answer: Plaintive cuckoo

The plaintive cuckoo has mainly orange breast feathers with a grey head and red eyes. It is also a brood parasite so probably has little right to melancholia compared to the poor birds it picks on as host parents. Favourite victims of the plaintive cuckoo include tailorbirds, which are named for their ability to sew together leaves to provide a protective covering for their nests. Sadly these impressive skills are no defence against the cuckoo's egg laying invasions.

Before I get too homesick listening to the sad cries of the plaintive cuckoo drifting through the sky above, I quickly pack up my cuckoo clock and move onto my next cuckoo spotting destination.

Answer: Sri Lanka

The terms 'Pearl of the Indian Ocean' and 'Teardrop of India' are used for Sri Lanka because of its location off the south-east coast of India and the shape of the island.

The blue-faced malkoha would make a good ambassador for the wider cuckoo family as it is a good parent that brings up its own young in its own nest. The nests are built in low bushes and usually contain two to three eggs.

It is a relatively large species of cuckoo, with predominantly dark green feathers except for a striking blue patch around the eye which gives the bird its name. As they are relatively widespread and there is little concern over their conservation status, it shouldn't take too long to spot a malkoha and move on in search of other cuckoos.

Answer: Shining bronze cuckoo

The shining bronze cuckoo gets its name from its metallic golden head feathers and bronze coloured barring on its lower body. It also has distinctive copper or green coloured wings. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and a range of other island nations of the South Pacific. Like many cuckoos it is more often heard than seen, so a lot of patience is required to spot one (or a really effective cuckoo clock that might bamboozle the poor bird into thinking a friend was nearby).

Shining bronze cuckoos eat a variety of insects, but are particularly known for feeding on those unpalatable insects, such as spiny caterpillars, that are ignored by other birds. It manages this because of the thick lining in its throat and the ability to spit out the spines!

Answer: Its calls are often heard before rain storms

The common koel apparently gets its 'storm bird' reputation because its calls are most often heard before a period of rainy weather. This probably derives more from traditional beliefs than any scientific weather interpretation on the part of the common koel. It does provide a handy warning though that I might have to make a quick dash undercover once a common koel responds to the impression of it produced by my cuckoo clock.

Common koels are striking birds, with the male having predominantly black feathers while the females have lighter plumage with a heavily barred tail. Although they are brood parasites, their presence is not as damaging to the host species as the young koels do not kill the host parents' own offspring by ejecting either the chicks or un-hatched eggs from the nest.

Answer: Pheasant

The pheasant coucal is a relatively large and heavy bird, better designed for ground-dwelling than soaring flight. They are another example of cuckoos that actually go to the effort of building their own nests and caring for their own young. Unusually, it is the male bird that takes the bulk of the responsibility for raising chicks including building the nest, incubating the eggs and providing food for the young birds.

Pheasant coucals are known for their distinctive call, which sounds something like "boop, boop, boop" rather than "cuckoo, cuckoo". The "cuckoo, cuckoo" of a traditional cuckoo clock is produced using a mechanism involving a pair of bellows that push air through two whistles on the side of the clock - the first whistle produces the "cu" and the second whistle manages the "koo". This design dates back hundreds of years so unfortunately it isn't an easy job to adapt my cuckoo clock to do an impression of the 'booping' pheasant coucal....

Answer: Cuba

The great lizard cuckoo, Coccyzus merlini, is also known as the Cuban lizard cuckoo. Like its common name suggests it lives on a diet of lizards as well as insects, frogs, snakes and birds' eggs. However, unlike what might be suggested by its Latin name, it has no apparent magical skills.

This particular species of cuckoo can be identified by its generally pale brown plumage, distinctive barred tail and bright orange-red bare patch of skin around its eyes. It is also quite large for a cuckoo, generally growing to around 50cm (20 inches) long - a large chunk of which is made up by its long tail. It is definitely a bird that you couldn't miss if it swooped overhead.

Answer: It shares a communal nest with other smooth-billed anis

Smooth-billed anis nest high up in trees, with several pairs of birds contributing to the building process. Each female then lays up to seven eggs, although generally not all of these will hatch. All the adult female birds will then take turns to incubate the entire clutch of eggs and then feed the resulting young.

Smooth-billed anis are native to the Caribbean, Central America, southern Florida, and northern South America. They are social, gregarious birds in contrast to most of their cuckoo cousins which tend to be solitary creatures. Since these birds are often found in large noisy groups, no cuckoo clock was required in order to track down a specimen. This was just as well as the smooth-billed ani's call sounds more like "ooh-leeek" than "cuckoo".

Answer: Greater roadrunner

The incorrect options are all species of hummingbird found in Mexico. Hummingbirds are renowned as skilled fliers, a reputation that the greater roadrunner definitely does not share.

Greater roadrunners have been immortalised in the 'Looney Tunes' cartoons which pit the Road Runner against Wile E. Coyote. It is important to note that the cartoons don't provide a terribly accurate depiction of the greater roadrunner. They don't have fancy blue plumage (they're predominantly brown) and they don't generally go "Beep, Beep" while avoiding traps made from Acme Corporation products!

Although relatively solitary birds like most members of the cuckoo family, the cuckoo clock actually manages to attract a second greater roadrunner to the scene of my cuckoo-related vigil. Unfortunately this one fails to take off in time to be seen flying over the cuckoo clock and barrels straight into it, causing irreparable damage to the mechanism. Sadly, this cuckoo clock adventure has been brought to an abrupt and ignominious end - much like most of Wile E. Coyote's endeavours...