How do you catch a Cuckoo?
Putting up a mist net
Stuffed female Cuckoo, used to attract males into the nets.
Catching Cuckoos is not an easy task. They are notorious for getting out of nets and many a ringer has stories of chasing a Cuckoo along a net line, only for it to get out the other end. Being large, long winged and with soft plumage they do not tend to get caught up in small-mesh nets and we needed a new method. Fortunately, we were able to seek advice and help from a number of sources including colleagues from University of Copenhagen (Kasper Thorup and Mikkel Kristensen) and BTO bird ringers, Paul Noakes and Justin Walker.
Paul Noakes is an expert Cuckoo catcher and for this project has invested in two new large-mesh mist nets. Mist nets are made of fine nylon mesh and are suspended between to poles and are a very effective method for safely catching birds. The large-mesh nets proved to be perfect for catching Cuckoos and every bird that hit the net was caught. Paul and Justin were kind enough to spend a considerable amount of time locating Cuckoo catching spots in east Norfolk and joining forces with us on catching expeditions.
Having the right gear is only one part of the story. Catching birds is more of an art than a science and it is useful to understand how birds behave before setting out to catch them. Male Cuckoos like to sit on tall trees and sing the ‘Cuck-oo’ song that everyone is familiar with. To catch them the knack is to get them to come down low. The ideal site is a low isolated bush well away from any tall trees. Two nets are put around the bush in a V-shape and in the middle a recording of the female’s bubbling call and the male’s Cuckoo is played. Thinking a female and possibly a rival are in the area, the male will come to investigate, often dive-bombing in low within seconds of playing the tape. Paul had an additional trick up his sleeve, namely a stuffed female Cuckoo on a post. She proved her worth on a number of occasions as at least two birds attempted to mate with her! However, when a real live female was around, there was no contest and we had a number of fruitless catching occasions where males spent their time chasing real females and took no notice of our set up at all! Very frustrating, especially when the alarm had gone off at 2 in the morning!
