Indian Cuckoo
Cuculus micropterus
Sleek and slender gray-and-white cuckoo. Loud, far-carrying song is unique: four hooting notes, often likened to “onemore-boh-tul!” or “crossword-puh-zuhl.” Adult is similar in size and coloration to Oriental, Himalayan, and Common Cuckoos, but note dark eyes and darker back and wings. Juvenile patchy-looking, often showing a whitish crown and collar and white edging to the wing feathers. Favors forests, forest edges, and parklands. Lays its eggs in the nests of a wide range of birds, including magpies, shrikes, and drongos.
Identification
This is a medium-sized cuckoo with both sexes alike. It has grey upperparts while the underside has broad black barring. The tail is barred with a broad subterminal dark band and a white tip. Young birds have white markings on the crown and white chin and throat contrasting with a dark face. Juveniles are browner and have broad white tips to the head and wing feathers. The eye-ring is gray to yellow (a feature shared with the common hawk-cuckoo). The iris is light brown to reddish. The female differs from the male in being slightly paler grey on the throat and in having more brown on the breast and tail. The barring on the belly is narrower than in the male. Nestlings have an orange-red mouth and yellow flanges to the gape.<p>The call is loud with four notes. They have been transcribed as "orange-pekoe", "bo-ko-ta-ko", "crossword puzzle" or "one more bottle". In northern India, they can be locally common during the breeding season with densities estimated at a calling bird for every 2 km2 (0.77 sq mi).<p>They feed on hairy caterpillars and other insects but sometimes take fruits. They usually feed on the upper canopy, gleaning insects, sometimes making aerial sallies for flying termites or rarely even by hovering lower near the ground.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies are generally recognized. The nominate form is found in much of continental Asia, while concretus S. Müller, 1845 which is smaller and darker is known from the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The birds in the Amur region are larger and Swinhoe described a form from northern China as Cuculus michieanus while Walter Norman Koelz described a form fatidicus from northeastern India.
- Scientific name
- Cuculus micropterus
- Authority
- Gould, 1838
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cuculus
Range and habitat
The species is found widely distributed across Asia, from the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Southeast Asia. The preferred habitat is deciduous and evergreen forests but also occur in garden lands and thick scrub.<p>Some populations in India migrate south in winter, although there are breeding populations in the southern areas as well, with specimens netted at night or recorded at lighthouses. The population in the Amurland of the Russia is migratory.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The Indian cuckoo is a brood parasite. In Russia, females were found to pair with specific males during the breeding season. The male diverts the attention of hosts from their nest giving time for the female to lay her egg. It lays its single egg mostly in the nests of drongos and crows. Brown shrikes have been recorded as hosts in Russia. The female removes and eats an egg from the host nest before laying her own. The breeding season varies from May to July in northern China, March to August in India, January to June in Burma and January to August in the Malay Peninsula.<p>The host species include Lanius cristatus in the Amur region, black drongo and Pica cyanea in China. In India, they have been found to be fed by black drongos and ashy drongo. Other hosts that have been recorded include black-headed oriole, streaked spiderhunter, Eurylaimus ochromalus and Dicrurus paradiseus.<p>The eggs of the cuckoo hatch in 12 days while those of the brown shrike in the Amur region take 15 days. During the third or fourth day, the young bird bends its back when touched and heaves out other eggs or nestlings. This instinct is lost soon after.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mountain Robin-Chat
Cossyphicula isabellae
A fairly plain brown-and-orange robin-chat with a white eyebrow and a dark face. As in most robin-chats, the tail has a dark center and orange edges. An inconspicuous bird of the understory of montane forest. Sometimes follows columns of ants. Similar to White-bellied Robin-Chat, but distinguished by the orange belly and the much bolder white eyebrow. Also similar to Bocage’s Akalat, but distinguished by the white eyebrow and the two-colored tail. The song is a series of several squeaky, rasping whistles, far less conspicuous and musical than the vocalizations of most robin-chats.
Fischer's Starling
Lamprotornis fischeri
An unusual gray-and-white starling of dry country. Note the gray hood, pale eye, whitish crown, and gray rump. The large white patches on the underwing are distinctive in flight. Found in dry savanna, in cultivated areas, and around human habitation, usually in flocks. Most similar to Wattled Starling, but has a gray rather than white rump, a pale eye, and a distinct gray hood. The most common call is a rising, slurred whistle, sometimes given in a long series.
Sulawesi Myzomela
Myzomela chloroptera
A small honeyeater with a short, downcurved bill. Striking male shows a scarlet head, breast, back, and rump, a contrastingly dark tail and wings, and a whitish belly. Female and juvenile are entirely gray-brown with a diagnostic red wash on the face and throat. Found singly or in pairs at upper levels of hill forest. Male could be mistaken for the similarly-shaped Crimson Sunbird, but is smaller, shorter-billed, and shorter-tailed, with a whitish belly. Song is a short, high-pitched warble, “chew-chew-wit-wit.” Also gives “chew” call notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.