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Indian Cuckoo

Cuckoos & Coucals

Photo: Sri Srikumar · CC0 1.0

Cuculus micropterus

Basic stats

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).

Quick answers

What does the Indian Cuckoo eat?
Hairy caterpillars and other insects; sometimes fruit
What habitat does the Indian Cuckoo live in?
Deciduous and evergreen forest, garden land and thick scrub, up to 3,600m
How many eggs does the Indian Cuckoo lay?
1 egg per host nest
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