Male © Matt Wright | Faunagraphic Wildlife Tours eBird S53785695 Macaulay Library ML 145296971
Female gray morph © Geoff Dennis
Female hepatic morph © David Ongley
Male © Rick Franks
Female hepatic morph © Tomohiro Iuchi
+ 4
Male © Weber Tsai
Female hepatic morph © Corey Callaghan
Male © Ting-Wei (廷維) HUNG (洪)

Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus

Sign in to see your badges

Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

Typical gray cuckoo, indistinguishable from Himalayan Cuckoo in the field by plumage. Dark bands on the breast average broader in Oriental. Both also extremely similar to Common and Lesser cuckoos, but with buffy rather than white vent. Brownish-yellow iris readily distinguishes Oriental from the smaller, darker-eyed Lesser Cuckoo. Best identified by song, a mellow series of “boop-boop” notes, given in flight or from a high (often concealed) perch. When not singing, quiet and unobtrusive, foraging solitarily in upper and middle levels of boreal forest and mixed woodlands.

POWERED BY MERLIN