14-Apr London’s Cuckoo Chronicles

Summary

The cuckoo’s arrival has long been a herald of spring, celebrated in London with cuckoo fairs and folklore. Once a common sound in the city’s parks, this elusive bird is now a rare treat, heard more often on the northern fringes of London. Did you know cuckoos lay tiny eggs and grow fifty times their weight in just three weeks? Join us on 14 April as we explore the cuckoo’s fascinating life, its connection to London’s history, and the reasons behind its decline. Don’t miss this journey into the heart of a timeless spring tradition!

Article

Cuckoo

Today is cuckoo day, the day by tradition the cuckoo arrives, is heard and brings with it fine weather. Hence why Londoners, in the past, enjoyed cuckoo fairs to celebrate the event. A century ago it was much more commonly heard and was recorded in all the central parks. Even in the 1940s it was still breeding as centrally as Hampstead Heath. One theory for its demise is the loss of the host species it uses to rear its young. Dunnock, meadow pipit and reed warbler were used most, but also robin, pied wagtail and whitethroat. Nowadays, cuckoos are not found in most of suburban London unless they are on passage, although their host species still are. Another theory says it has become more difficult for them to watch their hosts prior to laying an egg as they are now predated upon themselves by sparrowhawks.

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They have large territories, but seem to be parasitizing nests further and further out. They also seem to be heard more on the northern edge of London, with Essex doing best. This may be due to the numbers of reed warblers which have now become their favoured host in our area. Cuckoos lay exceedingly small eggs considering their size, and about twenty of them. The young cuckoos increase in weight fifty fold in their first three weeks.

The onomatopoeic call was listened for intently in the past. The familiar saying

“In April come he shall
In May he sings all
In June he changes his tune”

refers to the call changing in June to a three note ‘cuck cuck oo’. The female answers with her distinctive bubbling trill. In Somerset, where the bird tends to be called ‘coo-coo’, it was traditional to turn the money in your pocket when you heard the call, ensuring it would increase during the forthcoming year. In Shropshire, on hearing the first cuckoo, labourers would stop work and drink ‘cuckoo ale’. There is much other folklore associated with this bird. ‘Cuckoo’ has also come to mean foolish. In Shakespeare’s Henry 4th Part I, Falstaff calls Prince Hal “cuckoo”.

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Cuckold is derived from cuckoo, and in this case it is the husband that is foolish as cuckoos spend all day singing, whilst other birds are nursing their young. Oddly, they have a marked food preference for hairy caterpillars, including the brown-tailed moth, which gives humans a rash if they touch it and can be toxic to some other birds. They are equally at home on marshes, woodland and even mountain and moorlands. This again is because of their target hosts.

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Consequently, they are thought to have been happy enough in central London in the past due to the large numbers of some of their favourite foods such as the caterpillars of Oak Eggars, Oak Leaf Roller and Vapourer moths, all of which could be found in large numbers on London’s plane trees.

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Having arrived here usually just before Cuckoo Day, the adults return to Africa in July and their young leave in August. Their disappearance was first mentioned by Aristotle, who thought they turned into sparrowhawks. Other explanations for their disappearance were that they over-wintered in caverns, hollow trees or fairy hillocks.