Indian Cuckoo   Cuculus micropterus

Etymology

• Cuculus : Latin word for “Cuckoo”

• Micropterus:  Greek Word Mikros – Small; Pterus –Winged { Small winged}

Vernacular name:   Kashmir: Kapoo, H.P: Kupul pakki, Pun: Desi papiha, U.P.: Kyphal pakka, Ben: Bou-katha-kao, Nepal: Kya-phal-pako, Lepcha: Takpo, Bhutia: Kang ka tong, Guj: Bharathiya kuhukanth, Hindi: Desi Kuku, Kya Fal Pakka, Mar: Bhartiya Kokil.

Distribution in India: Breeds in Himalayas, Central India, Maharashtra, East and North East India. Resident in South Eastern peninsular India and Kerala.

Description:  Size of 32–34 cm; Weight of 119 g. The adult male is dark slate-grey above, back is tinged brownish, tail is barred white at sides and with broad black subterminal band. It is pale ashy and white below with widely spaced black bands. The eye-ring is grey to yellow, iris is brown, bill is black above, greenish with yellow base below, feet are yellow. The female has pale grey throat and breast is brownish. The juvenile is broadly tipped with rufous and white above, head and neck are broadly barred white, tail is more rufous; black-barred buff below.

Habitat: It is found in deciduous and evergreen forests, second growth, dry country. It is found from lowlands to hills at 2000 m.

Food Habits: It eats Insects, mainly hairy caterpillars, also butterflies, grasshoppers, ants and fruit. It forages in high canopy, but sometimes feeds on ground.

Breeding Habits: They breed May–Jul in India, . they are brood-parasitic. Their hosts in India are Drongo. Their eggs are whitish with reddish brown markings. The incubation period is 12 days. The nestling are naked at hatching, skin is yellowish pink, gape flange yellow, mouth-lining is orange-red. Their begging call resembles that of host’s nestlings.