The Wisdom Of The Cuckoo

Over the past year, I have become fascinated with birds, particularly thrushes. They are small to medium-sized ground birds that feed mostly on insects and fruit. My interest began with the American robin, but soon branched out to other thrushes worldwide, such as the fieldfare, the Eurasian blackbird, and olive thrush of Southern Africa.

One peculiar species I accidentally stumbled upon is the well-known, and also notorious cuckoo. Apart from being famous as the key feature in  ornate wooden clocks from Germany, the cuckoo is also infamous for being a ‘parasitic’ bird that lays its eggs in other birds’ nests.

Yes, the cuckoo does not raise its own young. Instead, it takes advantage of other bird parents by laying in their nests. Once the egg hatches, the cuckoo chick attempts to push the other bird species’ eggs out of their nest, thus monopolizing the surrogate parents’ energy. The cuckoo chick typically also grows much bigger than the natural offspring of its adopted parents.

Watching some videos of cuckoos online, I became aware of many negative comments on YouTube about these amazing birds. Many folks apparently choose to regard the cuckoo as a devious villain of the natural world. However, I don’t see it that way at all.

Being a co-parent myself, who had to depend on my ex-husband to provide much of the care for my two children when they were younger, due to my personal health challenges after a near-death experience (NDE), I feel empathy for the cuckoo’s eccentricity and the unusual value it brings to the animal kingdom.

The cuckoo does not always successfully toss out every bird’s eggs. Many species co-exist with the singleton cuckoo chicks, and ultimately become stronger because they had a cuckoo ‘sibling’ in their nest. The other chicks have to compete more earnestly for food compared to their ‘cuckoo-free’ counterparts. In other words, what does not kill these survivor chicks, who have to share their nest with an uninvited guest, empowers them by building up enough dharmic energy to overcome the ‘killer karma’ of the cuckoo, and eventually makes them go out in the world much stronger to continue their parents’ lineage.

Is life worth living? Yes, so long as spring revives the year, and hails us with the cuckoo’s song, to show that she is here ~ Alfred Austin

Also, it is not commonly known that cuckoo chicks birds secrete an unpleasant, pungent smell that helps to drive away predators like crows, and therefore protect the nest of their foster family. In fact, according to research the presence of cuckoos in an area with many predators actually benefits the entire host population.

The cuckoo bird, with its seemingly ‘underhanded’ techniques, reminds me of the zodiac sign of Scorpio. Scorpio often gets a bad rap because chart natives with a lot of Scorpio or eight house placements, or strong Pluto traits (the planet that rules Scorpio), tend to have personalities that may be too intense and overwhelming for others to handle. However, we may want to consider the possibility that these eighth house ‘wonder children’ are meant to challenge the rest of us to step up our game, strive to become more empowered, passionate and driven, and make the necessary changes to become the best version of ourselves!

It is not the cuckoo’s fault that it grows faster than most other birds and that it needs to eat more voraciously.  This unusual bird is divinely designed to be the way it is to encourage all bird species’ survival capabilities, while offering them protection from predators. They challenge their surrogate parents to harness their instincts more keenly, as they go out searching for more worms, beetles, and grubs to adequately feed both their own offspring and their foster cuckoo. The process evolves and empowers both species.

Many believed that you can make a wish when hearing the sound of a cuckoo. It brings fortune and fulfilling conditions in human’s life. A belief practiced from long ago and by ancient people ~ Flo Saul

Cuckoo teaches us to see adversity and struggle as opportunities for growth and future triumph. It reminds me of the poem by Rob Siltanen, Lee Clow, and others, used in that famous Apple Inc. advertisement from the 90s:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.”