Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx nisicolor''), also known as the whistling hawk-cuckoo is a species of

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 ...

found in north-eastern

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 ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, southern

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

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo is a

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

. The chick evicts bona fide residents of the parasitized nest, thus becoming the sole occupant. Under normal circumstances, this would reduce the provisioning rate as the foster parents see only one

gape The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, ...

. To counteract this, the Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo displays gape-coloured patches of skin under its wing to simulate additional gapes; the strategy appears to increase the provisioning rate. This is in contrast to other species of cuckoo (such as the

common cuckoo The common cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. I ...

) which increase the rapidity of high pitched hunger calls to increase the provisioning rate. Although the skin patch is not gape shaped, it is convincing: host parents occasionally place food into the patch. Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo was formerly regarded as having four

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

. The

Philippine hawk-cuckoo The Philippine hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx pectoralis'') is a bird belonging to the cuckoo family. It is found only in the Philippines. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (''H. fugax'') but is now commonly treated ...

is now commonly treated as a separate species, ''H. pectoralis''. The remaining forms are also now split into three species:

Malaysian hawk-cuckoo The Malaysian hawk-cuckoo or Malay hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx fugax'') is a bird in the family Cuculidae formerly considered conspecific with Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo and the rufous hawk-cuckoo. All three species were previously assigned as ''Cuculus ...

(''H. fugax''), Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (''H. nisicolor'') and

rufous hawk-cuckoo The rufous hawk-cuckoo or northern hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx hyperythrus'') is a bird in the family Cuculidae formerly thought to be conspecific with Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx fugax'') and placed in the genus '' Cuculus''. Geographic ...

or northern hawk-cuckoo (''H. hyperythrus''). The common name commemorates the British naturalist

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Himala ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2998690

Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx nisicolor''), also known as the whistling hawk-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo found in north-eastern India, Myanmar, southern China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country ...

Birds of Eastern Himalaya Birds of South China Birds of Hainan Birds of Myanmar Birds of Thailand Birds of Laos Birds of Vietnam

Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN