Common hawk-cuckoo

Appearance

The common hawk-cuckoo is a medium- to large-sized cuckoo, about the size of a pigeon. The plumage is ashy grey above; whitish below, cross-barred with brown. The tail is broadly barred. The sexes are alike. They have a distinctive yellow eye ring. Subadults have the breast streaked, similar to the immature shikra, and there are large brown chevron marks on the belly. At first glance they can be mistaken for a hawk. When flying they use a flap and glide style that resembles that of sparrowhawks and flying upwards and landing on a perch they shake their tails from side to side. Many small birds and squirrels raise the alarm just as they would in the presence of a hawk. The sexes are alike but males tend to be larger.

They can be confused with the large hawk-cuckoo, which, however, has dark streaks on the throat and breast. Young birds have a pale chin but young large hawk-cuckoos have a black chin.

During summer months, before the monsoons, the males are easily detected by their repeated calls but can be difficult to spot. The call is a loud screaming three-note call, repeated 5 or 6 times, rising in crescendo and ending abruptly. It is heard throughout the day and frequently during moonlit nights. The calls of females are a series of grating notes. Common hawk-cuckoos feed mainly on insects and are specialised feeders that can handle hairy caterpillars. Caterpillar guts often contain toxins and like many cuckoos they remove the guts by pressing the caterpillar and rubbing it on a branch before swallowing it. The hairs are swallowed with the caterpillar and are separated in the stomach and regurgitated as a pellet.

Distribution

The common hawk-cuckoo occurs in most of the Indian subcontinent, from Pakistan in the west, across the Himalayas foothills, east to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and south into Sri Lanka. Some birds of the Indian population winter in Sri Lanka. In the hills of central Sri Lanka, "ciceliae" is a resident. It is generally resident but where occurring at high altitudes and in arid areas is locally migratory. It is found in the lower elevations of the Himalayas but in the higher areas, the large hawk-cuckoo tends to be more common.

The species is arboreal and rarely descends to the ground. Its habitat includes garden land, groves of tree, deciduous and semi-evergreen forests.

Behavior

Like many other cuckoos, this species is a brood parasite, preferring babblers mainly in the genus "Turdoides" and also reportedly on laughing-thrushes of the genus "Garrulax".

Its breeding season is March to June, coinciding with that of some of the "Turdoides" babblers. A single egg is laid in each nest, blue, like that of the host. The hatchling usually evicts the eggs of its host and is reared to maturity by foster parents, following them for nearly a month. T C Jerdon noted that it may not always evict the host and that young birds may be seen along with young babblers. When moving with a flock of babblers the chick makes a grating "kee-kee" call to beg for food and the foster parents within the group may feed it. The predominant host species in India are "Turdoides striatus" and "Turdoides affinis". Hawk-cuckoos also parasitise the large grey babbler "Turdoides malcolmi". In Sri Lanka, their host is "Turdoides striatus".

Parasitic eye-worms in the genus "Oxyspirura" have been found in the orbital cavity of the species.

Habitat

Like many other cuckoos, this species is a brood parasite, preferring babblers mainly in the genus "Turdoides" and also reportedly on laughing-thrushes of the genus "Garrulax".

Its breeding season is March to June, coinciding with that of some of the "Turdoides" babblers. A single egg is laid in each nest, blue, like that of the host. The hatchling usually evicts the eggs of its host and is reared to maturity by foster parents, following them for nearly a month. T C Jerdon noted that it may not always evict the host and that young birds may be seen along with young babblers. When moving with a flock of babblers the chick makes a grating "kee-kee" call to beg for food and the foster parents within the group may feed it. The predominant host species in India are "Turdoides striatus" and "Turdoides affinis". Hawk-cuckoos also parasitise the large grey babbler "Turdoides malcolmi". In Sri Lanka, their host is "Turdoides striatus".

Parasitic eye-worms in the genus "Oxyspirura" have been found in the orbital cavity of the species.

Cultural

The call of this bird has been popularly transcribed as "brain-fever" in English. Frank Finn noted that "[H]is note, however, fully entitles him to his ordinary designation, whether from its "damnable iteration" or from its remarkable resemblance to the word "brain-fever" repeated in a piercing voice running up the scale". Other interpretations of the bird call include "peea kahan" in Hindi or "chokh gelo" and "paos ala".

The call "Pee kahan" or "Papeeha" is more accurately represented by the shrill screaming "pi-peeah" of the large hawk-cuckoo "Hierococcyx sparverioides", which replaces the brainfever bird along the Himalayas and its foothills.

The bird is called Keteki in the Assamese language of North-East India, and its call tranliterated as "Moi Keteki" which translates to My name is Keteki.

The brainfever bird's call may be heard all through the day, starting early before dawn and frequently during moonlit nights. A novel by the Indian author Allan Sealy is named after this bird.