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Story: Bird migration

Long-tailed cuckoo

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Long-tailed cuckoo

Compared with the shining cuckoo, long-tailed cuckoos migrate to a wide range of destinations across the tropical Pacific. They return to New Zealand, the only place where they breed. They lay their eggs in the nests of whiteheads, yellowheads and brown creepers, and these birds raise the chicks.

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Department of Conservation

Reference: 10029504

by J. L. Kendrick

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How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Bird migration – New Zealand’s migratory birds, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7226/long-tailed-cuckoo (accessed 15 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 2 March 2009.