
Summer time is cuckoo time. You’ll hear them everywhere from about October to December. Sometimes even at night! Cuckoos have fun calls that are simple, loud and easy to recognise. Many are even named after their calls. But it’s tough to see them!

Diederik Cuckoo
Diederikkie

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This is one of the species named for its calls. A beautiful little song that is a classic sound of summer. These cuckoos call while sitting on a perch, or while flying around. Deee-dee-dee-deedirik! In the second part of the clip there are two birds that are having an excited interaction. There’s a Crested Barbet in the background.
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Meitjie

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This cutie (which is the one in the banner photo) is named after its call in Afrikaans. The call is an easy-to-remember may-kee, may-kee, may-kee or in Afrikaans maai-tjie, maai-tjie, maai-tjie. I jumped out of the pool to record this, and was standing there sopping wet with the mic! This was in northern KwaZulu-Natal. You can sometimes hear these cuckoos in winter too.
African Emerald Cuckoo
Mooimeisie

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If you’re birding in a forest in summer, you’ll hear this beautiful sound all the time. But seeing the caller is very difficult. When you do spot it though, you’ll never forget those beautiful green and yellow feathers. This is the male calling; he says Pretty! Geor-gie. Or, like in the Afrikaans name, Mooi! Mei-sie (“mooi meisie” means pretty girl). I love it!
Red-chested Cuckoo
Piet-my-vrou

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This is perhaps the bird call that most South Africans know – except for a Hadeda I guess! Piet-my-vrou! Piet-my-vrou! Over and over and over, day and night. But although everyone knows the sound, not many people have actually seen a Red-chested Cuckoo. When they get excited they sometimes call faster, like at the end of this clip.
African Cuckoo
Afrikaanse Koekoek

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The name “cuckoo” is from the call of the Common Cuckoo that is heard in Europe – from there the famous cuckoo clock. African Cuckoos make a similar call, but their two notes are both at the same pitch: coo-coo…coo-coo…coo-coo. It is a very deep, bass sound. You could mistake it for an African Hoopoe. I recorded this in beautiful miombo woodland in Zambia.
Black Cuckoo
Swartkoekoek

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The poor Black Cuckoo is always complaining about being sick! His song sounds like “I’m, so, siiiiick“. In some other parts of Africa people say that he says “There’s, no, raaaaain“. In the last part of the clip you’ll hear their other call: a strange “whirly” sound, like hurry-up, hurry-up, hurry-up. There’s a Green-backed Camaroptera and Gorgeous Bushshrike in the background.
Levaillant’s Cuckoo
Gestreepte Nuwejaarsvoël

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Levaillant’s and Jacobin Cuckoos sound pretty similar. Both are very noisy birds, with loud, sharp sounds that are not very musical at all. They mainly make these kleeo-type sounds, and sometimes burst into a long series of chuckling calls. I recorded this late on afternoon in the Bushveld. The bird was calling from a long thorn tree in the middle of a floodplain.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Gevlekte Koekoek

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This Great Spotted Cuckoo came flying right towards me and I got my microphone ready just in time. But unfortunately a Fork-tailed Drongo appeared and starting mobbing him until the cuckoo flew away. They mainly make noisy, scolding sounds. At the end of the clip you can hear their alternative whistling call. They sound quite similar to the related “nuwejaarsvoëls”.

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