Himalayan Cuckoo

Himalayan Cuckoo
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cuculiformes
Family:	Cuculidae
Genus:	Cuculus
Species:	C. saturatus
Binomial name
Cuculus saturatus (Blyth, 1843)

The Himalayan Cuckoo (Cuculus saturatus) is a species of cuckoo in the genus Cuculus. It breeds from the Himalayas eastward to southern China and Taiwan. It migrates to southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands for the winter.

It was formerly known as "Oriental Cuckoo" and contained several subspecies found over most of Asia. In 2005, it was determined^[1] that this "species" consists of three distinct lineages:

• Himalayan Cuckoo, Cuculus (saturatus) saturatus
• Oriental Cuckoo proper, Cuculus (saturatus) optatus
• Sunda Cuckoo, Cuculus (saturatus) lepidus

These are usually seen as distinct species nowadays. As the type specimen of the former "Oriental" Cuckoo is a bird of the Himalayan population, the name saturatus applies to the Himalayan Cuckoo if it is considered a species.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} BirdLife International (2008). Cuculus saturatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 1 May 2009.

External links

• http://www.soc.nii.ac.jp/osj/japanese/katsudo/Journal_E/ornsci1_1pdfs/os010206.pdf