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Story: Small forest birds

Long-tailed cuckoo

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Long-tailed cuckoo

The long-tailed cuckoo (koekoeā), depicted in this lithograph by John Gerrard Keulemans, lays its eggs in the nests of whiteheads, yellowheads or brown creepers. The chicks quickly become larger than their adult hosts – who continue to feed them anyway.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0012-14

by John Gerrard Keulemans

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Small forest birds – Cuckoos, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/12501/long-tailed-cuckoo (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 August 2023.