Male cuckoos appear to have a unique call that makes them distinguishable to and from other males. A new study appearing in Animal Behaviour
shows that an individual cuckoo call may determine how a male responds
to an interloper in his territory -- behaving more tolerantly towards
neighbors and more aggressively towards strangers.
Common cuckoos,
Cuculus canorus, are brood parasites: they
lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, and let these hosts
incubate their eggs and feed and rear the nestlings. Although cuckoos do
not show parental care, they demonstrate complex social behavior,
including territoriality and male-male aggression. Cuckoos have a
well-known and simple two-phrase call ("cu" and "coo"), uttered by males
during the breeding season. Previous studies have suggested that the
"cu-coo" call of males is individually unique, allowing discrimination
between different classes of males.
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