Cuckoo on the wing!

[Nicos]

Well, you learn something every day!

I was listening to 'our' cuckoo calling and watched it fly from one tree to another which was about 100 yds away ....and it was calling on the wing!
I had no idea they could do that!
that must take some skill....are there other birds which call on the wing?...there can't be many?

[ladylottie]

I know that Green Woodpeckers do. And many birds give alarm calls as they fly.
But have only ever head a cuckoo singing/calling from a branch.

[Jay22]

Do most birds not do that? I've heard gulls, crows, buzzards...

[ladylottie]

Do most birds not do that? I've heard gulls, crows, buzzards...

Yes, I think they probably do.

[Nicos]

I suppose I was thinking of 'singing' rather than screeching....

[Martin H]

Skylarks!!

[veggiechicken]

I suppose I was thinking of 'singing' rather than screeching....

Do cuckoos "sing"?
I think you're being "singist" here, Nicos. Just because a gull or hawk doesn't "sing" you shouldn't exclude them!!

[burnie]

Most birds perch if they nest in trees/shrubs/reeds etc, ground nesters tend to sing on the wing, it's about attracting mates and declaring "their " territory.

[TrixC]

Geese don't seem capable of flying without honking...

[Snoop Puss]

Bee eaters - a lovely fluid trilling call, very different to geese!

[marchogaeth]

Well, you learn something every day!

I was listening to 'our' cuckoo calling and watched it fly from one tree to another which was about 100 yds away ....and it was calling on the wing!
I had no idea they could do that!
that must take some skill....are there other birds which call on the wing?...there can't be many?

I think it's unusual for them to call as they fly. We have had the best year for cuckoos for many a year with up to 5, that I can hear from the house in a ring round the property. Still got two or three calling away but stationary to judge by the directions.

[Nicos]

I think we actually have 2

A couple of days ago there were certainly 2 calling at the same time

But 5!!!!!...wow, that must be noisy marchogaeth!.....how brill is that!

[marchogaeth]

It's our best year for many, many. When we first moved here 25 years ago there were so many that you couldn't pick out individual calls - it was literally a wall of sound at it's peak. In the worst years in between we've had one (it's only the male that calls IIRC).

My neighbour and I vie for being first to hear each year with some very early morning texts! It's only when you meet people who say they haven't ever heard one that you really appreciate what you have.

[oakridge]

You lucky people. We haven't heard a cuckoo here for some years. We have about 250 acres of woodland at the back of the house but a VERY busy road at the front.

[marchogaeth]

I don't think it is so much woodland as the habitat for the common reed warbler or other preferred hosts that is most important.