Indian Cuckoo

Appearance

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 . 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.



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 Bengali, it is interpreted as "bou-kotha-kao", "Bride, please speak". Very little variation is noted between regions although the song in China is said to rise at the end. In the Kangra Valley of India, the call is interpreted as the soul of the dead shepherd uttering "where is my sheep". In China, one of the names means "four-note cuckoo". In Kerala, its call is interpreted as "Chakkakkuppundo?" which in Malayalam means "Has Jack fruit has salt?" It is the Jack fruit season in Kerala and many preparations are made out of unripe jack fruit. Another interpretation for the call in Kerala is "Vithum kaikkottum" which means "Paddy seed and spade" since the loud call of the Indian Cuckoo is heard during the season of sowing paddy seeds in the fields after the Vishu festival in April.
In northern India, they are locally common in the breeding season with as many as a calling bird for every 2 square km.

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.

Distribution

The species is found widely distributed across Asia. The preferred habitat is deciduous and evergreen forests but also occur in garden lands and thick scrub.

Some populations appear to migrate south in winter, although there are breeding populations in the southern areas as well, with specimens netted at night or recorded at lighthouses.

Behavior

The Indian Cuckoo is a brood parasite. It lays its single egg mostly in the nests of drongos and crows. It removes and eats an egg from the host nest before laying its 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.

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''.

The eggs of the cuckoo hatch in 12 days while those of the Brown Shrike in the Amur region take 14 days. During the third of fourth day, the young bird bends its back when touched and heaves out other eggs or nestlings. This instinct is lost soon after.

Habitat

The species is found widely distributed across Asia. The preferred habitat is deciduous and evergreen forests but also occur in garden lands and thick scrub.

Some populations appear to 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 Indian Cuckoo is a brood parasite. It lays its single egg mostly in the nests of drongos and crows. It removes and eats an egg from the host nest before laying its 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.

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''.

The eggs of the cuckoo hatch in 12 days while those of the Brown Shrike in the Amur region take 14 days. During the third of fourth day, the young bird bends its back when touched and heaves out other eggs or nestlings. This instinct is lost soon after.