[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":253},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye":108,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":109,"section-listing:disabled":246,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":247},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":68,"description":69,"extension":70,"faq":71,"imagePrompt":81,"latinName":20,"meta":82,"navigation":83,"order":84,"pageType":85,"path":86,"publishedAt":87,"readingMinutes":88,"relatedLinks":89,"seo":102,"sitemap":105,"stem":106,"taxonRank":85,"updatedAt":84,"__hash__":107},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.md","Cuckoos (Cuculidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":60},"minimark",[9,14,22,25,29,32,35,39,53,57],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-cuculidae-a-family","What makes Cuculidae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Cuculidae",", the cuckoo family, comprises around 150 species found across most of the world, sharing a generally slender body, a long, often graduated tail, and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward and two backward, an arrangement also found in woodpeckers that provides a particularly secure grip on branches and vegetation. Despite the strong popular association between the family name and brood parasitism, this remarkable breeding strategy — laying eggs in the nests of other species and leaving them to raise the resulting chick — is actually found in only a portion of the family worldwide, with many other cuckoo species building conventional nests and raising their own young directly.",[15,23,24],{},"The common cuckoo, the sole species covered so far in this atlas, represents one of the most thoroughly studied and evolutionarily specialized examples of the parasitic strategy found within the family, involving a coordinated set of adaptations spanning egg mimicry, precisely timed laying behavior, and instinctive chick behavior aimed at eliminating any competition for parental care immediately after hatching.",[10,26,28],{"id":27},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,30,31],{},"Brood parasitism within Cuculidae, where it occurs, represents one of the more dramatic examples of an evolutionary arms race documented in birds: host species that suffer repeated parasitism have, in several well-studied cases, evolved improved abilities to recognize and reject foreign eggs, prompting parasitic cuckoo lineages to evolve correspondingly closer egg mimicry in response, an ongoing evolutionary back-and-forth that continues to be an active area of behavioral and evolutionary research.",[15,33,34],{},"Vocal behavior also varies meaningfully across the family, though the common cuckoo's simple, widely recognized two-note call stands as one of the most culturally familiar bird sounds in Europe, closely associated in folklore and tradition with the arrival of spring across much of the cuckoo's breeding range.",[10,36,38],{"id":37},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,40,41,42,47,48,52],{},"This atlas currently covers one member of Cuculidae: the ",[43,44,46],"a",{"href":45},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fobyknovennaya-kukushka","common cuckoo"," (",[49,50,51],"em",{},"Cuculus canorus","), a hawk-like migrant famous both for its instantly recognizable call and for its remarkable, specialized brood-parasitic breeding strategy. Further Cuculidae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,54,56],{"id":55},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,58,59],{},"Wetland reed beds, farmland hedgerows, moorland, and woodland edges — habitat shared broadly with several of the common cuckoo's preferred host species — offer the best chance of encountering this family, and because the common cuckoo is a long-distance migrant, it is present in Europe and Russia only from spring through mid-summer, with the male's distinctive call typically at its most frequent and easiest to hear during the peak of the breeding season in late spring.",{"title":61,"searchDepth":62,"depth":62,"links":63},"",2,[64,65,66,67],{"id":12,"depth":62,"text":13},{"id":27,"depth":62,"text":28},{"id":37,"depth":62,"text":38},{"id":55,"depth":62,"text":56},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","md",[72,75,78],{"q":73,"a":74},"Are all cuckoos brood parasites like the common cuckoo?","No — brood parasitism, though the trait most strongly associated with the family in popular understanding, is actually found in only a subset of Cuculidae species worldwide, including the common cuckoo covered in this atlas; many other cuckoo family members build their own nests and raise their own young directly, making the parasitic lifestyle a striking specialization within part of the family rather than a universal family trait.",{"q":76,"a":77},"What physical traits generally unite the cuckoo family?","Beyond the parasitic breeding strategy found in some members, Cuculidae species typically share a slender body, a long, often graduated tail, and zygodactyl feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, an arrangement shared with woodpeckers that provides a secure grip while perching and climbing through dense vegetation.",{"q":79,"a":80},"Why is brood parasitism considered such a remarkable evolutionary strategy?","Successful brood parasitism requires an intricate set of coordinated adaptations — precisely timed egg-laying, eggs that closely mimic a host's own in color and pattern, and chick behavior finely tuned to eliminate competition immediately after hatching — all evolving in response to hosts simultaneously evolving their own defenses, such as improved egg recognition, making the relationship between the common cuckoo and its hosts a textbook example of ongoing evolutionary arms races in nature.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a common cuckoo perched on a bare branch at the edge of a wetland reed bed, slate-grey upperparts, barred pale underparts, long white-tipped tail, calling with beak slightly open, sharp focus on the eye, soft-focus background of tall green reeds and open water beyond, soft warm early-morning light, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","13.07.2026",1,[90,94,98],{"label":91,"path":92,"description":93},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","Another family sharing the same distinctive zygodactyl foot arrangement",{"label":95,"path":96,"description":97},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":103,"description":104},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae) — traits, species, and brood parasitism","Cuculidae, the cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds famous for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood parasitism. Traits, species, and evolutionary arms races.",{"loc":86},"semeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","FiGmyeKinVRNkdlagrlhRsmky74hqtOQg4Bi5apWwNE",{"ru":83,"es":83},[110,115,120,121,126,131,137,142,147,152,157,162,167,172,177,182,187,193,198,203,208,213,218,223,228,233,238,243],{"title":111,"description":112,"path":113,"coverImage":114,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":116,"description":117,"path":118,"coverImage":119,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":5,"description":69,"path":86,"coverImage":68,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},{"title":122,"description":123,"path":124,"coverImage":125,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":127,"description":128,"path":129,"coverImage":130,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":132,"description":133,"path":134,"coverImage":135,"publishedAt":136,"order":84},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":138,"description":139,"path":140,"coverImage":141,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":143,"description":144,"path":145,"coverImage":146,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":148,"description":149,"path":150,"coverImage":151,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Herons (Ardeidae)","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":153,"description":154,"path":155,"coverImage":156,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":158,"description":159,"path":160,"coverImage":161,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":163,"description":164,"path":165,"coverImage":166,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":168,"description":169,"path":170,"coverImage":171,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":173,"description":174,"path":175,"coverImage":176,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":178,"description":179,"path":180,"coverImage":181,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":183,"description":184,"path":185,"coverImage":186,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":188,"description":189,"path":190,"coverImage":191,"publishedAt":192,"order":84},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":194,"description":195,"path":196,"coverImage":197,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":199,"description":200,"path":201,"coverImage":202,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":204,"description":205,"path":206,"coverImage":207,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":209,"description":210,"path":211,"coverImage":212,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":214,"description":215,"path":216,"coverImage":217,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":219,"description":220,"path":221,"coverImage":222,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":224,"description":225,"path":226,"coverImage":227,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":229,"description":230,"path":231,"coverImage":232,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":234,"description":235,"path":236,"coverImage":237,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":239,"description":240,"path":241,"coverImage":242,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":91,"description":244,"path":92,"coverImage":245,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[],[248,249,251],{"label":91,"path":92,"description":93,"coverImage":245},{"label":95,"path":96,"description":97,"coverImage":250},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101,"coverImage":252},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114560533]