| Oriental Cuckoo | |
|---|---|
 An oriental cuckoo perches on a branch in Queensland, Australia. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Cuculus |
| Species: | Cuculus optatus |
The Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) is a small Old-World Cuckoo.
Appearance[]
A mostly gray bird, the Oriental Cuckoo has a gray head and wings, and gray stripes on the otherwise white underparts. It has a yellow beak and patch around the eyes. Hens are normally the same, but sometimes they are brown with black barring instead of gray, this, however, is a rare sight. It is 26 centimeters in length.
Habits[]
Oriental Cuckoos, rather then rear their own chicks, lay their egg in another birds nest. When the cuckoo hatches it pushes all the other eggs out of the nest and then takes all the food provided by its foster parents. Interestingly, cuckoos can change the color of the eggs they lay to correspond to the color of the foster species eggs.
Feeding[]
Oriental Cuckoos feed on insects and larvae which they find in forests and forage for them in trees, bushes and on the ground.
Distribution and Habitat[]
It mainly inhabits forests, whether coniferous, deciduous or mixed. It's large breeding range is distributed in northern Eurasia, breeding in across much of Russia west to the Komi Republic, as well with occasional records in as far as Saint Petersburg and also breeds in northern Kazakhstan, Mongolia, northern China, Korea and Japan. The exact extent wintering range uncertain due to its secretive habits and difficulty of separating it from the Himalayan Cuckoo and other species. Wintering range is believed to possibly include the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, western Micronesia, the Solomon Islands and northern and eastern Australia with occasional birds reaching New Zealand. It has appeared in Ukraine, Israel and Alaska as a vagrant.
Similar Birds[]
- Brush Cuckoo
- Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
- Common Cuckoo
- Great Spotted Cuckoo
- Pallid Cuckoo
- Squirrel Cuckoo
- Himalayan Cuckoo
Gallery[]
