Jacobin Cuckoo

Clamator jacobinus (Boddaert, 1783)

≈29 cmLength79 gWeight

It has a crest and a conspicuous white patch on the black wing.

Busiest months: October · Most records: India, Sri Lanka, South Africa

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

White patch on the black wing
Crest on the crown

Voice

A series of clear “piu-piu” whistles.

Where and when it's recorded

Jacobin Cuckoo has been recorded at 629 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 44 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Hoskote / Hosakote KereIndia1,085 records
Krishnampathi Lake, SeeranaickenpalayamIndia1,006 records
Muthanallur KereIndia660 records

More places

Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia511 records
Hessaraghatta KereIndia506 records
Bundala NPSri Lanka448 records
Mysore City Bird Atlas 30B, Srirampura 2nd StageIndia424 records
Ankasamudra Bird SanctuaryIndia409 records
Mysore City Bird Atlas 30A, Lingambudhi kereIndia342 records
Mangar BaniIndia341 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India Sri Lanka South Africa Kenya Tanzania Uganda Namibia Bangladesh

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 Jacobin cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus), also pied cuckoo or pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. It has been associated with a bird in Indian mythology and poetry, known as the chātaka (Sanskrit: चातक) represented as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst.

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