Grey-bellied cuckoo

Cacomantis passerinus

The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo is a cuckoo with widespread occurrence throughout Asia.
Grey-bellied cuckoo (Cacomantis passerinus) Palpatha Lodge, Sri Lanka. Jan 12, 2015. Cacomantis passerinus,Geotagged,Grey-bellied cuckoo,Sri Lanka,Winter

Appearance

The grey-bellied cuckoo is one of the smaller cuckoos, at a total length of about 23 cm. Adults are mainly grey with a white lower belly and undertail. There is a white patch on the wings. Some females are dark-barred reddish brown above with an unbarred tail and have strongly dark-barred whitish underparts. The juvenile resembles the female but is of a duller grey.

Distribution

The grey-bellied cuckoo breeds in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south China and Indonesia. It has been reported from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is a short-distance migrant, since birds at more northerly latitudes and on higher ground are summer visitors, leaving for warmer areas in winter. The species prefers light woodland and cultivated areas.

Habitat

The grey-bellied cuckoo breeds in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south China and Indonesia. It has been reported from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is a short-distance migrant, since birds at more northerly latitudes and on higher ground are summer visitors, leaving for warmer areas in winter. The species prefers light woodland and cultivated areas.The grey-bellied cuckoo is a brood parasite and uses warblers as hosts. It lays a single egg. Its diet consists of a variety of insects and caterpillars. this is a noisy species, with a persistent and loud ''pee-pip-pee-pee'' call, with its tail depressed.

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Status: Least concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderCuculiformes
FamilyCuculidae
GenusCacomantis
SpeciesC. passerinus
Photographed in
Sri Lanka