Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus

Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus

(aka Himalayan Cuckoo)

Lingmethang Road, Mongar, Bhutan
April 2008

The Oriental Cuckoo breeds from the southern Himalayas to southern China and in the Malay Peninsula. The Malayan population is resident but the rest migrate southwards to Malaysia, the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia during the northern winter.

It is found in forest and woodland where it feeds mainly on insects, especially caterpillars, but also on fruit and pine needles.

It is a brood parasite and the hosts are mainly small warblers of the Seicercus and Phylloscopus genera.

It is similar to Common Cuckoo C. canorus but the upperparts are darker grey, the head looks lighter grey and the barring on the belly is thicker. Also the undertail coverts are buffy rather than white. I think that the buff around the neck of this bird indicates that it is a female.

The song is a mellow hoop-hoop-hoop reminiscent of the Hoopoe.

There are recordings on xeno-canto .

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