The Cuckoo Family: Union of Opposites

Most people know Cuckoo (Cuculus canarus) from cuckoo clocks. Famous for her two note call (cu-coo), this shy solitary Bird of the woodlands has become a timekeeping icon of clockmakers. She is named for her distinctive call in many languages: koe-koek in Dutch, cou-cou in French, kuctutin in German, and kak-ko in Japanese.

However, Cuckoo is also known for laying her eggs in other birds’ nests. (This is called “brood parasitism”.) Various members of the Cuckoo Family specialize by laying similar eggs in the nests of selected bird species. These brood parasites often crowd out the other young Birds in the nest. One mystery of these Birds is how They become Cuckoos when raised by non-Cuckoos.

However, the Cuckoo Family does include a wide variety of birds. New World Cuckoos such as Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) builds her own nest and raises her Chicks herself. Roadrunner of North America is also a Cuckoo. In addition, depending on how Cuckoos are defined, Coucals (Centropodidae) and Anis (Crotophagidae) are included in the Family.

What is noteworthy about Cuckoos is that people think well of Them. In North America, farmers call Cuckoos “rain crows” because They predict rain. Meanwhile, Australian farmers encourage Cuckoos to eat their fill of harmful Caterpillars. In Europe and elsewhere, Cuckoos are the harbingers of spring and better times.

Cuckoos demonstrate the union of opposites. They balance the whole of good and bad. These brood parasites eat harmful Caterpillars that other Birds cannot. Taken as a whole, the Cuckoo Family represents the balancing of extremes. Learn from Cuckoos how to combine both the good and bad parts of yourself into a whole.