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| A Diederik Cuckoo |
PHILIP VAN DEN BERG (U34), writes: Residents are probably well acquainted with
the ‘dee-dee-dee-deederik’ call of Diederik Cuckoos during the summer. These
birds are migratory intra-African brood parasites. They have a range of host
species including Southern Masked Weavers.
One of the
most astonishing features of Diederik Cuckoos is that they lay eggs that match
the colour and markings of the host species.
When the
female Diederik Cuckoo enters the host nest, she ejects or eats the host’s eggs.
Then she lays only one egg in the nest.
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| The female ejects or eats the host's eggs |
The egg
hatches within 10 to 12 days, and the parasite chick receives the undivided
attention of the host parents. In the picture below the host parent is a
Southern Masked Weaver.
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| A Southern Masked Weaver feeding a Diereik Cuckoo chick |
The
fledgling remains dependent on its host parents. As winter approaches it flies
back to Equatorial Africa purely on instinct.
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