Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

The chestnut-winged cuckoo is a crested cuckoo about 47cm long, with dark glossy upperparts, a black head and crest, chestnut wings, a rufous throat and a long graduated black tail. A white half-collar separates the black cap from the back. Young birds are dusky with scaly-looking wing feathers (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds along the Himalayas and migrates south in winter to Sri Lanka, southern India and tropical Southeast Asia. It is a brood parasite and is said to lay its eggs mainly in the nests of laughingthrushes, especially two Garrulax species, and the eggs are very spherical. Nepal is among the countries from which it has been recorded.