Cuckoo clocks are special because they strike the hour together with a sound that imitates the call of a cuckoo bird. This is made possible with the use of small bellows and pipes. A cuckoo clock will also have a gong that actually strikes the hour. In addition most designs will have an automated cuckoo bird that comes out of the birdhouse. It is a functional as well as an entertaining kind of time keeper.

When we think of the cuckoo clock, the image that comes to mind is the traditional “carved” design. It is a style that borrows the design of a chalet. The mechanism of early designs consisted of complicated movements that play the music and strikes the time. Modern designs are made simpler with the use of quartz battery. Instead of being produced by bellows, the call is now a digital recording of a cuckoo call.