[Animals] This is the cuckoo, the surprising bird that feeds on the processionary caterpillar

[Noticias ALEJANDRO]

It has been weeks since the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) has arrived in Spain and its characteristic song brightens the forests of the large areas where this curious species lives. It arrived in our country, where it breeds, in mid-April and will remain here until the end of July, when it will return to southern Africa, where it spends the rest of the year.

 

 

The cuckoo has an appearance that is somewhat reminiscent of a sparrowhawk, with a gray back and transverse stripes on the chest. But, of course, it is not a bird of prey, since it basically feeds on insects. What's more, its predilection for hairy caterpillars (which not all birds like) makes the cuckoo a natural antidote against the processionary, a pest that infests the pine forests of much of Spain and which has this bird in one of its more unknown remedies.

 

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