Animalia Life
Cuculus varius
SUBFAMILY
Cuculinae
TAXONOMY
Cuculus varius Vahl, 1797, Tranquebar, India. Two subspecies
recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Ceylon hawk cuckoo, brain-fever bird; French:
Coucou shikra; German: Wechselkuckuck; Spanish: Cuco
Chikra.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
13 in (33 cm); 3.6 oz (104 g). Tails are banded, with bars on
the abdomen and flanks.
DISTRIBUTION
Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
HABITAT
Montane forests, deciduous and evergreen wooded areas; also
pine forests, gardens, groves, and bamboo thickets.
BEHAVIOR
Loud, shrieking call, often heard singing at night with a bright
moon.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects, including caterpillars, termites, grasshoppers, beetles;
they also eat fruits and berries. Arboreal and secretive foragers.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Brood parasitic; breeding March–July in India, and
January–April in Sri Lanka.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not globally threatened, fairly common within most of their
DISTRIBUTION
area, but rare in Sri Lanka.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
Photo Gallery of - Common hawk-cuckoo
