Cuckoo

The Indian Cuckoo or short-winged cuckoo or Indian Hawk Cuckoo with the scientific name of Cuculus micropterus is one among the 21 Cuckoo species found in India.

These species are the member of the order Cuculiformes and the family Cuculidae found widely in all parts of India.

Two subspecies of Cuculus micropterus are known to exist. The quick classification of Cuckoo is as below,

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Cuculiformes
Family	Cuculidae
Genus	Cuculus
Species	Cuculus micropterus
Sub species	Cuculus micropterus micropterus, Cuculus micropterus concretus

Physical Characteristics:

Indian Cuckoos are medium sized, solitary and shy birds. The upperparts are grey in color and the under parts have broad black color feathers. Young birds have a white marking over their crown, chin and throat which makes it look contrasting in a dark face. The tail of the bird is barred with white tip at the broad and dark sub terminal band. The juveniles are brown colored with white markings at the head and wing feathers. They have a gray to yellow marking round the eye-ring. The color of iris ranges from light brown to reddish. Both males and females look akin except the females being paler in color when compared to males. Females have dark brown feathers on their breast and tail. The belly is narrower than in male. The beak is orange yellow with brown color at the tip.

The call of cuckoo is loud with four notes. They have been interpreted as "orange-pekoe", "bo-ko-ta-ko","one more bottle" or "crossword puzzle". In Bengali it is translated as "bou-kotha-kao". In the Kangra Valley of India, the call is meant as the soul of the dead shepherd uttering "where is my sheep". The cuckoos are the solitary birds that neither occur in pairs nor groups. Majority of the cuckoos are diurnal but some show nocturnal behavior. The cuckoos in general are shy and retiring , which can never been seen but more often heard.

Habitat:

The species is distributed across various parts of Asia. They prefer the deciduous and evergreen forest habitat but are also spotted in garden lands and thick scrubs. They also occur in other habitats like temperate forest, Tropical or subtropical moist lowland, artificial or terrestrial subtropical or tropical heavily degraded forest.

Migration:

The birds seem to migrate south in winter, and there are more breeding populations in the southern areas with specimens netted at night or evidenced at lighthouses.

Food Habits:

Their food includes gleaning insects, flying termites, upper canopy, hairy caterpillars and other insects and sometimes intake fruits as well. Cuckoos majorly are insectivores and prefer larger insects and caterpillars. Unlike other birds prior to swallowing, cuckoos rub their prey back and forth on rough objects like branches and then smash it with special bony plates present in the back of the mouth.

Places Found

They are common and widespread across India. Other than India, they are spotted in Bangladesh, Brunei, Bhutan, Darussalam, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

1. Cuculus micropterus micropterus: These subspecies are found in various places like Kashmir and Himalayan foothills through India to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Mongolia, Korea, Russia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and Philippines.

2. Cuculus micropterus concretus: These subspecies are found in Vietnam, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

Mating and Nesting:

The breeding season for these birds occurs during the period of March to August in India, May to July in China, January to August in the Malay Peninsula and January to June in Burma. They are brood parasites since they lay their eggs in the nests of crows and drongos. They lay one egg at a time and they eat the eggs from their hosts before laying its own eggs. The eggs of cuckoos hatch in 12 days time. After three days from the hatch, the young bird slowly bends its back and heaves out. They are fed by Black Drongos and Ashy Drongo.

Threats and conservation

The population size has not been measured, but it is believed that the thresholds for "Vulnerable" under the population size criterion wouldn't be approached (Less than 10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be greater than 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Based on the above criterions the species is evaluated as "Least Concern". Since these species has a very large range it is not feasible for them to fall under the category of Vulnerability (Less than Extent of Occurrence in 20,000 km2 combined with a declining or varying range size, loss of habitat, or population size and a lesser number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend of Indian cuckoos appears to be stable, and hence these species does not hit the thresholds for Vulnerable when verified with the population trend criterion (30% of decline over ten years or three generations).

Two subspecies of Indian cuckoo are recognized to exist in India. They are

• Cuculus micropterus micropterus
• Cuculus micropterus concretus

There are around 21 species of Cuckoo known to exist in India. They are Pied Cuckoo(Clamator jacobinus),Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus), Large Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx sparverioides), Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hieroccycx varius), Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo,

Whistling Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx nisicolor), Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus), Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus saturatus), Lesser Cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus), Banded Bay Cuckoo (Cacomantis sonneratii),Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus)

Grey-bellied Cuckoo (Cacomantis passerinus),Asian Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculatus),Violet Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus), Asian Drongo-Cuckoo (Surniculus lugubris), Surniculus dicruroides (Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo), Blue-faced Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus viridirostris), Green-billed Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus tristis), Sirkeer (Malkoha Taccocua leschenaultii),Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis),Andaman Coucal (Centropus andamanensis) and Lesser Coucal (Centropus bengalensis).

Interesting facts about Cuckoos

1. There are around 138 species of Cuckoos known to exist worldwide. 21 species of them exist in India.
2. Cuckoos don't build their own nests.
3. The name cuckoo is onomatopoeic, which means that it is derived from the birds' call.
4. The cuckoo's favorite diet is hairy caterpillars.
5. Every season a female will lay around 12 to 22 eggs in different birds nests.
6. A female cuckoo will generally tend to lay her eggs in a nest belonging to the same species of bird that reared her.
7. Unlike most birds, female cuckoos lay their eggs in the afternoon time rather than the morning time.