I'm not sure which species of cuckoo the author is referring to here ...
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article353676.ece
Earlier birds threaten the cuckoo
By Jonathan Owen
Published: 26 March 2006
Cuckoos have inhabited rural Britain for thousands of years, but
climate change is taking its toll on the bird that once dominated other
flying species by stealing their nests.
New figures to be released later this year by the RSPB and British
Trust for Ornithology are expected to show a continuation of a marked
decline that saw its numbers crash by 43 per cent from 1994 to 2004.
Global warming is said to have shattered the delicate timing that the
cuckoo needs to pull off its trick of hiding its eggs in the nests of
other birds. Milder winters and earlier springs are changing nesting
patterns. This means that many birds have already begun breeding by the
time cuckoos arrive to try to find empty spaces for their eggs.
Tim Sparks of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology told The Independent
on Sunday: "Global warming is definitely a major factor. It is quite
clear that the change in arrival dates is linked to warmer weather and
earlier springs."
Meadow pipits and dunnocks foster 80 per cent of cuckoo chicks, but
they are now breeding up to two weeks earlier than in the past, while
cuckoos are starting to arrive up to two weeks later than usual. The
cuckoo is also suffering from the decline in the number of these two
species; their numbers have dropped by more than a third in recent
years.
Cuckoos cannot simply switch their allegiance to other birds, as their
eggs are genetically programmed to mimic those of the species that they
normally target. Thinly distributed around the UK, there are now
thought to be just 15,000 pairs left. Recording the first call of the
cuckoo each year is an age-old British institution that has become an
annual fixture in newspaper letters pages.
The cuckoo's distinctive call, made by males as a way of defending
their territory and attracting females, is becoming more infrequent,
and recorded sightings in 2005 were down by a third on those of the
previous year. The overall outlook is bleak, according to Dr Martin
Fowlie from the British Trust for Ornithology. "Cuckoos are facing a
real crisis and the question is whether we will still hear them in 10
to 20 years' time," he said.
The next edition of the Population Status of Birds in the UK, due in
2007, is expected to show the cuckoo added to the list of Britain's
threatened birds.
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