The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo (''Cacomantis passerinus'') is a

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

with widespread occurrence throughout Asia.

Description

The grey-bellied cuckoo is one of the smaller cuckoos, at a total length of about 23 cm. Adults are mainly grey with a white lower belly and undertail. There is a white patch on the wings. Some females are dark-barred reddish brown above with an unbarred tail and have strongly dark-barred whitish underparts. The juvenile resembles the female but is of a duller grey.

Distribution and habitat

The grey-bellied cuckoo breeds in tropical southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to south

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It has been reported from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is a short-distance migrant, since birds at more northerly latitudes and on higher ground are summer visitors, leaving for warmer areas in winter. The species prefers light woodland and cultivated areas.

Ecology

Grey-bellied Cuckoo(Cacomantis passerinus)

The grey-bellied cuckoo is a brood parasite and uses

warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

as hosts. It lays a single egg. Its diet consists of a variety of insects and caterpillars. This is a noisy species, with a persistent and loud ''pee-pip-pee-pee'' call, with its tail depressed.

References

Gallery

File:Grey-bellied Cuckoo (Cacomantis passerinus) in Kinnarsani WS, AP W IMG 5856.jpg, In

Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary is a forest located in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana state of India. The wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of with the picturesque Kinnerasani Lake with densely forested islands in the middle ...

, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Grey-bellied Cuckoo (Cacomantis passerinus) in Kinnarsani WS, AP W IMG 5863.jpg, In

, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:PolyphasiaPasserinaKeulemans.jpg, Illustration by

John Gerrard Keulemans Johannes Gerardus Keulemans (J. G. Keulemans) (8 June 1842 – 29 March 1912) was a Dutch bird illustrator. For most of his life he lived and worked in England, illustrating many of the best-known ornithology books of the nineteenth century. Bi ...

, 1872. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2737391

grey-bellied cuckoo The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo (''Cacomantis passerinus'') is a cuckoo with widespread occurrence throughout Asia. Description The grey-bellied cuckoo is one of the smaller cuckoos, at a total length of about 23 cm. ...

Birds of India Birds of the Himalayas Birds of Nepal