This week's ornithological offering is a day earlier than usual for reasons which will become clear tomorrow.
I've decided to focus on one particular bird namely the Cuckoo , The RSPB (who may become handy for this series) tell us that the Cuckoo is a dove-sized bird with a blue-grey back, head and chest, and stripey black and white belly. Its sleek body, long tail and pointed wings gives it an appearance not unlike Kestrels or Sparrowhawks.
Then it gets a bit more nasty - Cuckoos are summer visitors and known for being brood parasites. This means that, instead of building their own nest, the females lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, especially Meadow Pipits, Dunnocks and Reed Warblers. Bastards!
You should all be familiar with The Cuckoo performed here by Kristen Hersh and I suspect that a good few of you will recognise the Belle and Sebastian number.
We conclude with Lissie followed by The Cardigans
Belle and Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo
The Cardigans -Your New Cuckoo
I thought that I would include this video given that the scene was replicated by my normally quiet nephew when his teacher told him of for talking!
Will you be featuring crows (tweedy or otherwise) in a future episode?
ReplyDeleteIt is a possibility.
ReplyDeleteCan think of three band names offhand but would need to check the music files for songs.
And Sheryl obviously
ReplyDeleteI have found four songs with 'crow' or 'crows' in the title, one by a band with 'birds' in their name, which must mean double points. Will send them over.
DeleteIf you are looking for crow bands there are the Countings of course, not that I would admit to owning anything by either them or Sheryl.
And Old Crow Medicine Show and Stone the Crows
DeleteKristin and Belle are two of my favourite songs - especially the Avalanches remix of B&S.
ReplyDelete(Ice Cream for Crow by Captain Beefheart)
I love all birds - but with its nesting habits the cuckoo can be hard to like. Not so with your song choices, though.
ReplyDeleteFollowing on from Ernie's question about featuring crows, is there any chance of some ravens?
ReplyDeleteI second that. Already looking forward to later in the series when you get to kittiwakes and bitterns.
DeleteI'm late to this particular party (damned holiday!) but I do like the series title. I had loads of Cuckoo songs in the harddrive, but the one that stood out was Absolutely Cuckoo by the Magnetic Fields.
ReplyDelete