Jacobin Cuckoo

Indian Bird – Jacobin Cuckoo:

The Jacobin cuckoo, pied cuckoo or the pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that are 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.
This medium-sized, slim black and white cuckoo with a crest are distinctive. The white wing patch on the black wing and the pattern make it unmistakable even in flight.
They are very vocal during the breeding season. The call is a ringing series of whistling notes “piu-piu” with the calls of the nominate form more rapid and slightly mellower.

Jacobin Pied cuckoo

In India, the subspecies serratus (Sparrman, 1786) is a summer breeding visitor to northern India and is believed to migrate to southern Africa.
This is a large and longer winged bird than the nominate subspecies found in the southern peninsular region and Sri Lanka is said to be a local migrant.
No ringing evidence exists to support the actual migration to Africa

Facts:

Scientific Name: Clamator jacobinus
Higher classification: Clamator
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Cuckoos
Rank: Species
Family: Cuculidae

The species is distributed the south of the Sahara in Africa and south of the Himalayas in India. Also found in Sri Lanka and parts of Myanmar.
Within Africa, there are movements of the species although they are residents in tropical Africa. The east African population is migratory and moves over southern Arabia into India during April.
The habitat of the species is mainly in thorny, dry scrub or open woodland avoiding areas of dense forest or extremely dry environments

In the breeding season, birds call from prominent perches and chase each other with slow wing-beats and pigeon-like clapping flight.
The species is a brood parasite and in India, the host is mainly species of babblers in the genus Turdoides.
The color of the eggs matches those of the host, typically turquoise blue. The eggs are slightly larger than those of the common babbler (T. caudatus) or the jungle babbler (T. striata).

Other hosts include the Red-vented Bulbul and the eggs laid are then mostly white

When I first witnessed this lovely bird, was confused with a bulbul bird. I managed to capture a small video of the beautiful bird.

Also, check out my YouTube channel for other Indian birds.

Also check out my blogs on Grey Headed  Swamphen, Black Kites, etc.

Reference:

@wikipedia

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