Bird Album
Lesser Cuckoo
Cuculus poliocephalus Latham, 1790
≈25 cmLength47 gWeight
It stays hidden in dense foliage and seldom shows itself.
Busiest months: May–June · Most records: China, India, Japan
How to identify
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: May–June · Most records: China, India, Japan
Lesser Cuckoo has been recorded at 465 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 17 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Wawu Mountain – Summit [2800m]China156 records
- Longcanggou [General Area]China134 records
- Rabindra SarovarIndia111 records
More places
- Nanhui DongtanChina93 records
- Saul Kere / Sowl KereIndia82 records
- Wawu Mountain [General Area]China82 records
- Kumamoto – Mount TatsudaJapan65 records
- Labahe NNRChina65 records
- Mt. PhulchowkiNepal64 records
- Miyakejima – Tairo-ikeJapan59 records
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
Questions
How big is the Lesser Cuckoo?
The Lesser Cuckoo is about ≈25 cm long and weighs around 47 g.
Where does the Lesser Cuckoo live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic, Oriental: southeastern Siberia and Japan to southern China, northern Southeast Asia and the Himalayas. It is most often recorded in China, India and Japan.
When is the best time to see the Lesser Cuckoo?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May and June (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Lesser Cuckoo endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Lesser Cuckoo as Least Concern.
What does the Lesser Cuckoo eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Lesser Cuckoo in?
It belongs to the family Cuckoos (Cuculidae), order Cuculiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈25 cm
- Weight
- 47 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 154 mm
- Tail
- 132 mm
- Bill
- 22 mm
- Tarsus
- 18 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic, Oriental: southeastern Siberia and Japan to southern China, northern Southeast Asia and the Himalayas
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuckoos Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cuculus
Other birds in the genus Cuculus
Black CuckooCuculus clamosus
Red-chested CuckooCuculus solitarius
Sulawesi CuckooCuculus crassirostris
Indian CuckooCuculus micropterus
Madagascar CuckooCuculus rochii
African CuckooCuculus gularis
Himalayan CuckooCuculus saturatus
Oriental CuckooCuculus optatus
Sunda CuckooCuculus lepidus
Common CuckooCuculus canorus
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Ben Schweinhart. ↗
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