In article , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from "Jo Ling" contains these words:

Here in this corner of Sussex we
get blue tits, starlings, woodpigeons, magpies and blackbirds in our garden.
Also the occasional green woodpecker and jay. I do put nuts out for the
birds, but the squirrels are always first in the queue! We can hear cuckoos
but never seem to see them.

I've noticed that cuckoos call cuckoo while perched, but not while
flying.

They certainly do call cuckoo while flying.

You can hardly ever spot one in a tree and I've never seen one on
the ground.

They take a lot of their food from the ground, watching from a perch,
tree, fence post or rock outcrop, and then flying down to grab,
especially, caterpillars and beetles. When on the look out for a nest to
parasitise they will adopt a concealed perch, e.g. lying along a branch
from which they can watch the host species nest building.

When they are flying between trees they make a very
different,husky croaking call which sounds roughly like " watchitty
watchitty". If you look then you might see one; quite large and tend to
fly low, short distances only, in a rather stealthy manner.

That might be so in well wooded countryside, but in our more open
terrain they can be quite conspicuous.

--
Malcolm