Fordoun… the red chested cuckoo – “piet-my-vrou”
Posted on: November 27, 2017, in News
The call of the red chested cuckoo (Piet-my-vrou) has been heard loud and proudly in the midlands this week. The folk lore goes that this signals rain….
The red chested cuckoo is a vocal, medium sized bird that is difficult to spot in its preferred woody environments – it is also called a “shy” bird. It is a lonely bird loving its solitude and most often seen on its own. This characteristic is unlike its polygomous nature, in that it will take on more than one mate a season, and using brood mimicry, in that it will use other birds nest as their homes for laying eggs and letting the surrogate families raise their chicks. These are typical cuckoo traits . The red chested cuckoo can lay up to 20 eggs per seasons in various nests with various surrogate families and the breeding time is October to February. So at the moment they are busy busy birds ….
The trees and bushes around the hotel are perfect for this little soloist, and for those us lucky enough to live in the midlands it is the sound of summer .…
Red chested Cuckoo …