Oriental Cuckoo

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male has gray head, breast and upperparts
2. Belly creamy white, with dark barring
3. A yellow eye-ring of bare skin surrounds the eye
4. Legs and feet orange-yellow

Male, female and young

Adult females and juveniles occur in gray and rufous color morphs; the gray morph resembles the male, with brown on the breast.

Voice

The male gives a series of low, paired “poo-poo” notes, equally stressed; the female gives a deep, gurgling trill.

Similar species

Common Cuckoo

Common Cuckoo is slightly stouter, with longer wings and tail, a slightly smaller head and bill, slightly paler gray plumage and slightly narrower barring on the belly.

Himalayan Cuckoo

Himalayan Cuckoo is very similar, but slightly smaller with slightly shorter wings; the male's call consists of groups of three or four notes.

Where and when it's recorded

Oriental Cuckoo has been recorded at 395 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 18 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Yilan – Dingliao Ecological ParkTaiwan (China)477 records
2. Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)420 records
3. Dasyueshan IBA – Xiaoxueshan Lodge (50K)Taiwan (China)354 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaAustraliaJapanSouth KoreaUnited StatesMongoliaPhilippinesPapua New Guinea

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 Oriental cuckoo or Horsfield's cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) is a bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo (C. saturatus), with the name 'Oriental cuckoo' used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that it should be treated as a separate species.

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

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