Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus 斑翅鳳頭鵑
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
Aug. 2020, Thailand. Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok. Adult.
31-34 cm. The adult is black and white, hence its other name ‘Pied Cuckoo’. The head to below the eye, upperparts, remiges and wing coverts are blackish, while the underparts are white. Legs and bill are also black.
Jul. 2022, India. Akshat Khirwal. Adult.
The tail is black with a broad white tip (more visible when spread) and the bases to the primaries are broadly white.
Mar. 2018, Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij. Second calendar-year.
On young birds the dark feathers of the upperparts are dull brown.
VOCALISATIONS
The advertisement call is a repeated set of rather loud and ringing ‘kyeoo’ notes, sometimes presaged by a ‘kek kek kek’ call. The sole HK record was not heard to vocalise but occurred at a time of year when the species might.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
The sole record occurred at Mai Po NR.
OCCURRENCE
2020: one was seen at Mai Po NR on 30 May (Lai 2024).
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
No observations.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
The nominate taxon breeds in south India and Sri Lanka and winters in southeastern Africa; C. j. serratus occurs in south Africa and C. j. pica occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, northwest India to Nepal and Myanmar (Payne et al. 2021). EBird indicates records also from Thailand, Indochina, Taiwan and north Luzon.
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend stable.
Payne, R. B., E. de Juana, and P. F. D. Boesman (2021). Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.piecuc1.01.1
Lai, W. (2024). Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus at Mai Po NR: the first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2020: 232-235.
