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Natural Histories

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Nature that has had a profound impact on human culture and society across history.

Nature that has got under our skin and profoundly impacted human culture and society across our history.

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Natural Histories: Cuckoo

Cuckoo

BBC Radio 4 - Natural Histories, Cuckoo

The cuckoo has many secrets but has got under our skin. Brett Westwood asks why. From 2017

Summer is icumen in - loud sing cuckoo. We love the bird as a harbinger of spring and fear it for its unsettling parasitism. Brett Westwood explores the cuckoo.

We know the cuckoo for its song and think of it as the harbinger of spring. But we also know it as a rascally bird that abandons its young to the care of unwitting foster parents. Such a double life has ensured that the cuckoo has had a substantial place in the culture of all the countries across Europe and Asia where it comes to breed. In addition, observers, natural historians and scientists have long puzzled over the bird's secretive behaviour and habits - how do they do what they do, where do they go when they are not here, why are we losing them in England? Brett Westwood in the company of various field workers who have spent lifetimes trying to figure out cuckoos explores the rich and tangled life of the bird. With Nick Davies, Jenny York, Mark Cocker, and Chris Hewson and a gone-cuckoo song by Hanna Tuulikki. 

First broadcast in a longer form on 8th August 2017
Original Producer: Tim Dee.
Archive Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol Andrew Dawes

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