Pied Cuckoo
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| Pied Cuckoo | ||||||||||||||
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| Clamator jacobinus Boddaert, 1783 |
The Pied Cuckoo, or Jacobin Cuckoo, Clamator jacobinus, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis, and the Hoatzin.
It breeds in Africa south of the Sahara Desert eastwards to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. It is a short-distance migrant, since birds at more northerly latitudes and on higher ground are summer visitors, leaving for warmer and wetter areas in winter.
Pied Cuckoo is a bird of scrub, wetlands and cultivation. It is a brood parasite, and lays its single egg mostly in the nests of Turdoides babblers.
Pied Cuckoo is a largish cuckoo at 33 cm. Adults are black above with a prominent crest and white-tipped long, graduated tail. There is a small white wing patch. The underparts are white. Juveniles are browner above and yellowish-white below.
Pied Cuckoo takes a variety of insects and caterpillars. It is a noisy species, with a persistent and loud pipew pipew pipew call.
Reference
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6