Sunda Cuckoo
Encyclopedia
The Sunda Cuckoo or Sunda Lesser Cuckoo (Cuculus lepidus) is a South-east Asian bird
belonging to the genus
Cuculus
in the cuckoo
family, Cuculidae. It was formerly classified with the Himalayan Cuckoo (C. saturatus) and Oriental Cuckoo
(C. optatus) in a single species, C. saturatus, but is now often regarded as a separate species based on differences in voice, size and plumage
.
form which has reddish-brown upperparts, paler underparts and black barring both above and below. The Himalayan Cuckoo and Oriental Cuckoo are similar to the Sunda Cuckoo but paler with less buff-coloured underparts and narrower black bars.
The song
of the Sunda Cuckoo usually consists of a short first note followed by two or three longer and lower "hoop" notes. The whole song is higher-pitched than that of the Himalayan Cuckoo which gives three or four "hoop" notes.
. In 1940 it was included in the Lesser Cuckoo
(C. poliocephalus) by James Lee Peters
in his Check-list of the Birds of the World. In 1975 J. H. Becking concluded that it was a form of C. saturatus based on similarities in the voice, the colour and ultra-structure of the eggshell
and selection of a host to rear the young. Ben King proposed in 2005 that it should be regarded as a distinct species based on differences in size and plumage and a new study of the voice.
Two subspecies are often recognised. C. l. lepidus is the form found in most of the bird's range. The subspecies C. l. insulindae occurs in Borneo
and can be distinguished by its darker underparts.
, Borneo, Sumatra
, Java
, Bali
, Seram
and the Lesser Sunda Islands
east to Timor
. It is non-migratory unlike the Himalayan and Oriental Cuckoos which overlap in range with it during the northern winter. It occurs in forest
s, mainly in mountainous areas. It is found at altitudes of 950–1700 m in the Malay Peninsula, 1300–2700 m in Borneo and above 1000 m in Java, Sumatra and Wallacea
. It is believed to be slowly declining in numbers but still has a sizable range and population so its status is classed as Least Concern
by BirdLife International
.
s, particularly caterpillar
s, and will also eat fruit. It is a secretive bird which is hard to find except when calling.
It is a brood parasite
, laying its eggs
in the nests of other birds. It has been recorded using the nests of the Chestnut-crowned Warbler
in the Malay Peninsula, Mountain Leaf Warbler and Yellow-breasted Warbler
in Sabah and Mountain Leaf Warbler, Sunda Warbler
and Sunda Bush Warbler in Java. The eggs are whitish with brown spots.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
belonging to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Cuculus
Cuculus
Cuculus is a genus of cuckoos which has representatives in most of the Old World, although the greatest diversity is in tropical southern and southeastern Asia...
in the cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
family, Cuculidae. It was formerly classified with the Himalayan Cuckoo (C. saturatus) and Oriental Cuckoo
Oriental Cuckoo
The Himalayan Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the genus Cuculus. It breeds from the Himalayas eastward to southern China and Taiwan. It migrates to southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands for the winter....
(C. optatus) in a single species, C. saturatus, but is now often regarded as a separate species based on differences in voice, size and plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
.
Description
It is 29–30 cm long. The upperparts, throat and upper breast are dark grey. The rest of the underparts are buff with black bars. The tail is blackish with white spots. The female also occurs in a rufousRufous
Rufous is a colour that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron.The first recorded use of rufous as a colour name in English was in the year 1782....
form which has reddish-brown upperparts, paler underparts and black barring both above and below. The Himalayan Cuckoo and Oriental Cuckoo are similar to the Sunda Cuckoo but paler with less buff-coloured underparts and narrower black bars.
The song
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
of the Sunda Cuckoo usually consists of a short first note followed by two or three longer and lower "hoop" notes. The whole song is higher-pitched than that of the Himalayan Cuckoo which gives three or four "hoop" notes.
Taxonomy
It was first described as a species in 1845 by the German naturalist Salomon MüllerSalomon Müller
Dr Salomon Müller was a German naturalist.Müller was the son of a saddler in Heidelberg. In 1823 Müller, along with Heinrich Boie and Heinrich Christian Macklot, was sent by Coenraad Jacob Temminck to collect specimens in the East Indies. Müller visited Indonesia in 1826, New Guinea and Timor in...
. In 1940 it was included in the Lesser Cuckoo
Lesser Cuckoo
The Lesser Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka,...
(C. poliocephalus) by James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters was an American ornithologist.Peters was Curator of Birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University...
in his Check-list of the Birds of the World. In 1975 J. H. Becking concluded that it was a form of C. saturatus based on similarities in the voice, the colour and ultra-structure of the eggshell
Eggshell
An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats.- Insect eggs :Insects and other arthropods lay a variety of styles and shapes of eggs. Some have gelatinous or skin-like coverings, others have hard eggshells. Softer shells are mostly protein....
and selection of a host to rear the young. Ben King proposed in 2005 that it should be regarded as a distinct species based on differences in size and plumage and a new study of the voice.
Two subspecies are often recognised. C. l. lepidus is the form found in most of the bird's range. The subspecies C. l. insulindae occurs in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and can be distinguished by its darker underparts.
Distribution and habitat
Its range covers the Malay PeninsulaMalay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
, Borneo, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Seram
Seram
Seram is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. It is located north of Ambon Island. The chief port/town is Masohi.- Geography and geology :...
and the Lesser Sunda Islands
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...
east to Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
. It is non-migratory unlike the Himalayan and Oriental Cuckoos which overlap in range with it during the northern winter. It occurs in forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, mainly in mountainous areas. It is found at altitudes of 950–1700 m in the Malay Peninsula, 1300–2700 m in Borneo and above 1000 m in Java, Sumatra and Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
. It is believed to be slowly declining in numbers but still has a sizable range and population so its status is classed as Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
.
Behaviour
It feeds mainly on insectInsect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, particularly caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s, and will also eat fruit. It is a secretive bird which is hard to find except when calling.
It is a brood parasite
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
, laying its eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
in the nests of other birds. It has been recorded using the nests of the Chestnut-crowned Warbler
Chestnut-crowned Warbler
The Chestnut-crowned Warbler is a species of leaf warbler . It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage....
in the Malay Peninsula, Mountain Leaf Warbler and Yellow-breasted Warbler
Yellow-breasted Warbler
The Yellow-breasted Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Phylloscopidae family.It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines....
in Sabah and Mountain Leaf Warbler, Sunda Warbler
Sunda Warbler
The Sunda Warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the Phylloscopidae family.It is found only in Indonesia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 10 July 2007....
and Sunda Bush Warbler in Java. The eggs are whitish with brown spots.