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Plaintive cuckoo facts for kids

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Plaintive cuckoo
Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus - Cropped.jpg
at Nai Yang, Phuket
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Genus:
Cacomantis
Species:
merulinus

The plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) is a species of bird belonging to the genus Cacomantis in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is native to Asia, from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia.

Description

Plaintive Cuckoo (Immature) I IMG 7627
Immature in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Plaintive Cuckoo I1 IMG 6970
In Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Plaintive Cuckoo I IMG 6972
In Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

The plaintive cuckoo is fairly small, measuring about 21–24 cm (8.3–9.4 in) long. The adult male is grey-brown above and orange below with a grey head, throat and upper breast. The tail feathers have white tips. The legs and feet are yellow, the eye is red and the bill is black above and yellow below. The adult female is sometimes similar to the male but often occurs in a "hepatic" morph. This form is reddish-brown above with dark bars. The underparts are paler with fainter barring. There is a pale stripe over the eye and the tail has dark bars along its whole length. Juvenile birds are similar to hepatic females but are paler and have dark streaks rather than bars on the crown and throat.

The male has several plaintive whistling calls. These include an ascending series of three-note phrases and a series of 11 or 12 descending notes.

Plaintive Cuckoo-M
Plaintive cuckoo male in Manglajodi
Plaintive cuckoo-F
Plaintive cuckoo Female in Manglajodi

Distribution and subspecies

There are four subspecies. The nominate form C. m. merulinus is found in the Philippines where it is common on many of the larger islands. C. m. querulus is the most widespread form, occurring in north-east India, Bangladesh, southern China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It is a summer visitor to most of its Chinese range, migrating south for the winter. C. m. threnodes is found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo while C. m. lanceolatus occurs in Java, Bali and Sulawesi.

The grey-bellied cuckoo (C. passerinus) was formerly classified as a subspecies of the plaintive cuckoo but is now often treated as a separate species.

Ecology

Immature in Rajarhat, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

The plaintive cuckoo inhabits forest edge, open woodland, scrub, grassland, farmland, parks and gardens. It feeds on invertebrates. It is normally solitary and is often difficult to see.

It is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of cisticolas, prinias and tailorbirds. The eggs are similar to those of the host species but are larger. Small birds often mob the cuckoo to drive it away from their nests.

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