Plaintive Cuckoo

Taxobox
name = Plaintive Cuckoo

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Juvenile in Hong Kong.
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Cuculiformes
familia = Cuculidae
genus = "Cacomantis"
species = "C. merulinus"
binomial = "Cacomantis merulinus"
binomial_authority = (Scopoli, 1786)

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 and China to Indonesia.

Description

It is a fairly small cuckoo, 21-23.5 centimetres long. The adult male is grey-brown above and orange below with a grey head, throat and upper breast. There are white tips to the tail feathers. 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.

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, 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

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.

References

*aut|Kennedy, Robert S.; Gonzales, Pedro C.; Dickinson, Edward C.; Miranda, Hector C. & Fisher, Timothy H. (2000) "A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines", Oxford University Press, Oxford.
*aut|MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) "A Field Guide to the Birds of China", Oxford University Press, Oxford.
*aut|Robson, Craig (2002) "A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia". New Holland, London.