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The Cuckoo Chick Who Gets a Free Nest

4th grade nonfiction passage about birds that use other nests: 199 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction birds that use other nests 199 words

The Cuckoo Chick Who Gets a Free Nest

Most birds build a nest, lay eggs and raise their own chicks. The common cuckoo does things differently. It lets other birds do the work.

A female cuckoo watches a smaller bird, such as a reed warbler, while it builds its nest. When the owner flies off, the cuckoo slips in and lays one egg among the others. Then she leaves and never comes back. She may do this at many nests during a season.

The trick works because the cuckoo egg often looks a lot like the host's eggs. It may be about the same color and pattern. The warbler does not notice the difference and sits on all of the eggs together.

The cuckoo egg usually hatches first. The chick grows quickly and soon becomes much bigger than its foster parents. It begs loudly, and the small parents work hard to bring it enough food.

Some host birds have learned to fight back. A few can spot an odd egg and push it out, or even build a new nest. This back-and-forth has gone on for a very long time. Each time cuckoos get better at copying eggs, hosts get better at telling them apart.

Questions

  1. How does a female cuckoo get another bird to raise her chick? in the text

  2. Why does the host bird sit on the cuckoo egg? in the text

  3. What happens to the cuckoo egg compared with the other eggs? in the text

  4. Why do the small parent birds work so hard? in the text

  5. What do some host birds do to fight back? in the text

  6. Why does the passage say cuckoos and hosts keep getting better? think about it

Words to know

host
the bird whose nest is used by another bird
foster
taking care of a young one that is not your own
hatches
comes out of an egg
pattern
a design of spots, lines or shapes
season
a time of year, such as spring
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 149 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3

Most birds build a nest, lay eggs and raise their chicks. The common cuckoo is different. It lets other birds do the work.

A female cuckoo watches a smaller bird build a nest. When the owner flies off, the cuckoo slips in. She lays one egg with the others. Then she leaves for good.

The trick works because the cuckoo egg often looks like the other eggs. It may be the same color. The small bird does not see the difference. It sits on all the eggs.

The cuckoo egg usually hatches first. The chick grows fast. Soon it is much bigger than its foster parents. It begs loudly. The small parents work hard to bring it food.

Some birds fight back. A few can spot an odd egg and push it out. Cuckoos keep getting better at copying eggs, and hosts keep getting better at telling them apart.

▲ This passage · 199 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4

Most birds build a nest, lay eggs and raise their own chicks. The common cuckoo does things differently. It lets other birds do the work.

A female cuckoo watches a smaller bird, such as a reed warbler, while it builds its nest. When the owner flies off, the cuckoo slips in and lays one egg among the others. Then she leaves and never comes back. She may do this at many nests during a season.

The trick works because the cuckoo egg often looks a lot like the host's eggs. It may be about the same color and pattern. The warbler does not notice the difference and sits on all of the eggs together.

The cuckoo egg usually hatches first. The chick grows quickly and soon becomes much bigger than its foster parents. It begs loudly, and the small parents work hard to bring it enough food.

Some host birds have learned to fight back. A few can spot an odd egg and push it out, or even build a new nest. This back-and-forth has gone on for a very long time. Each time cuckoos get better at copying eggs, hosts get better at telling them apart.

■ Harder · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

Most birds construct a nest, lay their eggs and raise their own chicks, but the common cuckoo has adopted a remarkably different strategy. It allows other birds to do all of the work.

A female cuckoo keeps watch over a smaller bird, such as a reed warbler, while it builds its nest. When the owner flies away, the cuckoo slips in and lays a single egg among the others, then departs and never returns. In a single season she may repeat this at many nests.

The trick succeeds because a cuckoo egg frequently resembles the host's eggs, perhaps in color and in pattern. The warbler fails to notice the difference and sits on all of the eggs together.

The cuckoo egg usually hatches first. The chick grows rapidly and soon becomes far larger than its foster parents, and it begs so loudly that the tiny parents labor tirelessly to bring it enough food.

Some hosts have learned to resist. A few can recognize an unusual egg and push it out, or even abandon the nest and build another. This long contest has continued for ages: each time cuckoos improve at imitating eggs, hosts improve at telling them apart.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put host, foster, hatches, pattern and season on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 6 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Cuckoo Chick Who Gets a Free Nest"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 199 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.0. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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