
Photo: Sri Srikumar · CC0 1.0
Cuculus micropterus
Diet
Hairy caterpillars and other insects; sometimes fruit
Habitat
Deciduous and evergreen forest, garden land and thick scrub, up to 3,600m
Clutch size
1 egg per host nest
The Indian cuckoo, or short-winged cuckoo, is a medium-sized, solitary and shy cuckoo. Both sexes have grey upperparts and broad black barring below, and the tail has a broad dark band near the tip and a white end; the female is slightly paler on the throat and browner on the breast and tail. The eye-ring is grey to yellow. Its loud four-note call has been written as orange-pekoe, crossword puzzle or one more bottle, and is often the best way to find it (Wikipedia, general species account).
It lives in forest and open woodland up to 3,600m, feeding in the upper canopy on hairy caterpillars and other insects and sometimes fruit, and occasionally sallying after flying termites. It is a brood parasite that lays a single egg, mostly in the nests of drongos and crows, and the female removes and eats one of the host's eggs before laying (Wikipedia, general species account).