Editing Common cuckoo (section)

==Description==
[[File:Cuculus canorus vogelartinfo.jpg|thumb|Common cuckoo in flight]]
The common cuckoo is {{convert|32|-|34|cm}} long from bill to tail, with a tail of {{convert|13|-|15|cm}} and a wingspan of {{convert|55|-|60|cm}}.<ref name="BWP"/> The legs are short.<ref name="collins">{{cite book |last1=Mullarney |first1=K. |last2=Svensson |first2=L. |last3=Zetterstrom |first3=D. |last4=Grant |first4=P. |year=1999 |title=Collins Bird Guide |pages=204–205 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-00-219728-1}}</ref> It has a greyish, slender body and long tail, similar to a sparrowhawk in flight, where the wingbeats are regular. During the breeding season, common cuckoos often settle on an open perch with drooped wings and raised tail.<ref name="collins"/> There is a [[rufous]] [[Color morph|colour morph]], which occurs occasionally in adult females but more often in juveniles.<ref name="BWP"/> It has been hypothesized to have evolved as a deterrence to male harassment or host species mobbing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Merondun |first1=Justin |last2=Marques |first2=Cristiana I. |last3=Andrade |first3=Pedro |last4=Meshcheryagina |first4=Swetlana |last5=Galván |first5=Ismael |last6=Afonso |first6=Sandra |last7=Alves |first7=Joel M. |last8=Araújo |first8=Pedro M. |last9=Bachurin |first9=Gennadiy |last10=Balacco |first10=Jennifer |last11=Bán |first11=Miklós |last12=Fedrigo |first12=Olivier |last13=Formenti |first13=Giulio |last14=Fossøy |first14=Frode |last15=Fülöp |first15=Attila |date=2024-04-26 |title=Evolution and genetic architecture of sex-limited polymorphism in cuckoos |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=10 |issue=17 |pages=eadl5255 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.adl5255 |pmid=38657058 |issn=2375-2548|pmc=11042743 |bibcode=2024SciA...10L5255M }}</ref>
[[File:Eurasian Cuckoo Rongli East Sikkim India 10.04.2016.jpg|thumb|left|A Eurasian cuckoo (''C. c. bakeri'') from [[Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary]] in [[East Sikkim]], [[India]].]]

All adult males are slate-grey; the grey throat extends well down the bird's breast with a sharp demarcation to the barred underparts.<ref name="baker">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=K. |year=1993 |title=Identification Guide to European Non-Passerines |publisher=[[British Trust for Ornithology]] |pages=273–275 |id=BTO Guide 24 |isbn=978-0-903793-18-6}}</ref> The iris, orbital ring, the base of the bill and feet are yellow.<ref name="collins"/> Grey adult females have a pinkish-buff or buff background to the barring and neck sides, and sometimes small rufous spots on the [[Covert (feather)|median]] and greater coverts and the outer webs of the [[Flight feather#Secondaries|secondary feathers]].<ref name="baker"/>

Rufous morph adult females have reddish-brown upperparts with dark grey or black bars. The black upperpart bars are narrower than the rufous bars, as opposed to rufous juvenile birds, where the black bars are broader.<ref name="baker"/>

Common cuckoos in their first autumn have variable plumage. Some have strongly-barred chestnut-brown upperparts, while others are plain grey. Rufous-brown birds have heavily barred upperparts with some feathers edged with creamy-white. All have whitish edges to the upper wing-coverts and [[Flight feather#Primaries|primaries]]. The secondaries and greater coverts have chestnut bars or spots. In spring, birds hatched in the previous year may retain some barred secondaries and wing-coverts.<ref name="baker"/> The most obvious [[Identification (biology)|identification features]] of juvenile common cuckoos are the white nape patch and white feather fringes.<ref name="collins"/>

Common cuckoos [[Moult#Birds|moult]] twice a year: a partial moult in summer and a complete moult in winter.<ref name="baker"/> Males weigh around {{convert|130|g}} and females {{convert|110|g}}.<ref name="bto"/> The common cuckoo looks very similar to the [[Oriental cuckoo]], which is slightly shorter-winged on average.<ref name="baker"/> This resemblance extends even to the rufous morphs, which are also present in Oriental cuckoos. The presence of rufous morphs may well be ancestral to both Oriental cuckoos and common cuckoos.<ref name=":0" />