Lesser Cuckoo   Cuculus poliocephalus 

Etymology:

• Cuculus : Latin word for “Cuckoo”

• Poliocephalus : Latin Word polios grey; kephalos -headed

Vernacular name:   Cachar: Dao pia pihu, Lepcha: Dang-hlem, Bhutia: Pichu giapu, Mar: Chota Kokil

Distribution in India: Resident of Kashmir E through Himalayan foothills to Khasi and Naga Hills in North East India.

Description:  Size of 22–27 cm; wt. of 40–59 g. The adult male is slate-grey above, tail and uppertail-coverts are contrastingly blackish, tail has white tip and white spots at sides. The bends of wing below are unbarred white; throat and breast are light grey, belly is white with black bars, undertail-coverts are often also barred black. The eyering is yellow, iris is dark brown, bill is black with yellow base, feet is tan-yellow. The female is similar, sometimes with breast washed rufous. The female  also occurs in rufous morph, with head and upperparts as rufous, back and wings barred rufous and black, rump and uppertail-coverts are plain rufous. The juvenile is slate-grey with white bars above, face is black with white bars, breast and belly are barred black and white; rufous morph is barred tawny above, barred brown and buff below.

Habitat: It is found in Forests, broadleaf and pine, scrub, second growth. It is found between 1500 m and 3660 m.

Food Habits: It eats Insects, mainly caterpillars  beetles, hymenoptera and mantids.

Breeding Habits: They breed in May–Jul. They are Brood-parasitic. The hosts are small warblers, wren-babblers (Pnoepyga) and shortwings (Brachypteryx) in India. The Incubation period is 14 days and fledging period is 15 days.