Immature common cuckoo (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

28 October 2025

Remember the excitement when a barnacle goose came to Pittsburgh in late March and early April? That excitement was tripled or quadrupled last Friday when an extreme rarity — a common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) — was found on Long Island, New York. Only four common cuckoos have ever been seen in the U.S.

This bird’s normal range is Eurasia in the summer, Africa and southeast Asia in the winter. The immature bird found on Long Island was on its way to Africa when it went off course.

range map of common cuckoo from Wikimedia Commons

We found out about the bird because a golfer, who is not a birder, thought it was unusual and texted a photo to his ornithologist nephew.

The Rare Bird Alerts were galvanizing. The cuckoo’s location on the eastern end of Long Island was only a two hour drive from Manhattan. Hundreds of birders and photographers came out to see it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 24-26 October.

ebird sightings map of common cuckoo on Long Island, NY, October 2025

More birders were searching for it yesterday, 27 October, when CBS New York published this video.

As far as I can tell, the cuckoo was not seen yesterday.

p.s. Like brown-headed cowbirds, common cuckoos are nest parasites who lay their eggs in the nests of other birds –> If You Think Cowbirds Are Bad… On the plus side, their song is the sound of a cuckoo clock. The CBS video explains that this bird is too young and in the wrong season to sing.