Banded Bay Cuckoo

Cacomantis sonneratii (Latham, 1790)

≈21 cmLength34 gWeight

It is a small cuckoo with dark barring on a rufous ground, a distinctive white supercilium and a long bill.

Busiest months: February–March · Most records: Thailand, India, Singapore

Looks like Plaintive Cuckoo

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Whitish supercilium with a dark eyestripe below
Head and back rufous, with broad dark brown barring
Bill long and slightly decurved
Black band near the tail tip; feather tips white

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; juveniles have a pale lower mandible and white feather edges on the upperparts.

Voice

A high-pitched, four-note whistle, transcribed as “wee-ti wee-tee”, with each note falling in pitch.

Similar species

Plaintive Cuckoo

Plaintive Cuckoo is similar in size, and its rufous morph can look similar; Banded Bay Cuckoo is distinguished by its white supercilium, long bill and barred tail.

Where and when it's recorded

Banded Bay Cuckoo has been recorded at 457 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 15 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Mahidol University [Kanchanaburi Campus]Thailand834 records
Kranji MarshSingapore476 records
KattampallyIndia351 records

More places

Kaeng Krachan NPThailand349 records
TmatboeyCambodia345 records
Kaeng Krachan NP – Baan Maka Nature LodgeThailand302 records
Doi Pha Hom Pok NP – Doi Lang (W), AKA Doi San JuThailand300 records
Thattekad Bird Sanctuary – UrulanthanniIndia279 records
Doi Inthanon NP – Mae Ouam (Km 34.5)Thailand269 records
Cat Tien NPVietnam268 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Thailand India Singapore Malaysia Vietnam Cambodia Sri Lanka Indonesia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The banded bay cuckoo or bay-banded cuckoo (Cacomantis sonneratii) is a species of small cuckoo found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Like others in the genus they have round nostrils. They are usually founded in well-wooded areas mainly in the lower hills.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Banded Bay Cuckoo?

The Banded Bay Cuckoo is about ≈21 cm long and weighs around 34 g.

Where does the Banded Bay Cuckoo live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: India and Sri Lanka to southern China, Southeast Asia, Greater Sundas and Palawan (southwestern Philippines). It is most often recorded in Thailand, India and Singapore.