Diederik Cuckoo by Bruce Munro

November 7, 2024 99

A very common widespread intra- Africa migrant visiting South Africa from October to April . They like woodland , savanna, riverine bush, gardens , parks, exotic plantations and semi arid scrub .

Seen solitary or in pairs they are neither shy nor secretive like most other cuckoos. Males swoop in a wide arc over their territory with their heads and tails raised . Adjacent territorial males may chase each other for up to 400m . Their flight is direct with quick wingbeats .

Food is mainly caterpillars and also other insects.

You may hear them calling around our region with a persistent plaintive musical ” dee – dee – deederick ” rising then falling in pitch . The fledglings call ” chee chee “all day long.

Breeding is from October to March . The male feeds caterpillars to the female in courtship. 24 species of birds such as sparrow , weaver , wagtail nests are used to host their eggs. One blue , pale green , white or creamy egg is laid in the host’s nest. The female then removes and eats one of the hosts own eggs so that numbers tally. Incubation lasts 10 – 12 days followed by a nestling period of 20 – 21 days . The young then evict eggs or the young of the host within 4 days of hatching.

The isiZulu name is uNononekhanda and in Afrikaans die Diederikkie.