
Hear the cuckoo's call
First up in the spotlight, a smart-suited crooner with simple, laid-back vocals.
For those who know this song, it's an old favourite, with a beautifully breathy tone. This song is so recognisable that you can work out who the singer is, even if you have never heard it before, because he sings his own name.
It is just a two-note phrase, the first note slightly higher in pitch than the second, followed by a pause, before repeating the same pattern again and again: "ku koo ku koo ku koo…". This, of course, is the cuckoo.
It is a happy sound, relaxed, mesmerising, like a gentle heartbeat. It is a sound full of the promise of summer, of blue-skied days out in the countryside. He likes to sing from an elevated perch, such as the dead snag in a tree, or even telegraph wires. He can continue for a minute or so, perfectly paced, before he flies off to another perch.
The only bird you can really confuse it with is the 'ku KOO ku' of the collared dove, but that sounds distinctly bored rather than chilled out.