Friday 2 June 2023

Rufous-morph Cuckoo

A couple of weeks ago, a rather misty early morning visit to Wheldrake Ings following my dawn Turtle Dove survey revealed a couple of calling male Cuckoos, and a stunning rufous-morph female. According to the literature, less than 10% of females occur in this attractive gingery colouration (although the frequency varies regionall), with the rest being the typical grey. This bird is presumably the same female that was around last spring too. One of the males was certainly finding her very alluring and was getting quite excited, chasing her around the pool-side willows.




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