Bird Album
Plaintive Cuckoo
Cacomantis merulinus (Scopoli, 1786)
21–24 cmLength25 gWeight
The male has a gray head, gray-brown upperparts and orange underparts, with mournful whistles that sound like a lament.
Busiest months: March–April · Most records: Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia
How to identify
Field marks
- Male has gray head, throat and upper breast
- Male has gray-brown upperparts and orange underparts
- White spots at the tips of the tail feathers
- Red eyes; upper mandible black, lower mandible yellow
Male, female and young
The female is often of the “hepatic morph”, with reddish-brown upperparts and dark barring; juveniles resemble this morph but are paler.
Voice
The male gives plaintive whistles: a rising three-syllable phrase, or 11–12 descending notes.
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: March–April · Most records: Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia
Plaintive Cuckoo has been recorded at 818 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 15 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Sepilok – Rainforest Discovery CenterMalaysia812 records
- Lat Krabang – Thap Yao paddies & aquaculture pondsThailand734 records
- Benjakiti ParkThailand643 records
More places
- Phnom Krom – rice fieldsCambodia564 records
- Danum Valley Borneo Rainforest LodgeMalaysia529 records
- SkylandCambodia434 records
- Campuhan RidgeIndonesia421 records
- Kranji MarshSingapore400 records
- Ang Trapeang ThmorCambodia372 records
- Lam Tsuen ValleyHong Kong (China)368 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.
About
The plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) is a species of bird belonging to the genus Cacomantis in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is native to Asia, from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Plaintive Cuckoo?
The Plaintive Cuckoo is about 21–24 cm long and weighs around 25 g.
Where does the Plaintive Cuckoo live?
Its breeding range: Oriental, Australasia: Southeast Asia to Philippines. It is most often recorded in Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia.
When is the best time to see the Plaintive Cuckoo?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in March and April (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Plaintive Cuckoo endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Plaintive Cuckoo as Least Concern.
What does the Plaintive Cuckoo eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Plaintive Cuckoo in?
It belongs to the family Cuckoos (Cuculidae), order Cuculiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- 21–24 cm
- Weight
- 25 g
- Habitat
- Woodland
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 104 mm
- Tail
- 104 mm
- Bill
- 21 mm
- Tarsus
- 16 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental, Australasia: Southeast Asia to Philippines
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Subspecies · 1
- Cacomantis merulinus querulus e Himalayas to s China, Indochina and Malay Pen.
Classification
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuckoos Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cacomantis
Other birds in the genus Cacomantis
Chestnut-breasted CuckooCacomantis castaneiventris
Fan-tailed CuckooCacomantis flabelliformis
Banded Bay CuckooCacomantis sonneratii
Grey-bellied CuckooCacomantis passerinus
Sunda Brush CuckooCacomantis sepulcralis
Sulawesi Brush CuckooCacomantis virescens
Sahul Brush CuckooCacomantis variolosus
Manus Brush CuckooCacomantis blandus
Solomons Brush CuckooCacomantis addendus
Moluccan Brush CuckooCacomantis aeruginosus
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Charles J. Sharp. ↗
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