Scientific Name: Clamator jacobinus

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Alternate Names: Pied Cuckoo

A black and white member of the cuckoo family with a black crown and nape, dark upper wings and a white belly. The crest is spiked and tall with a mohawk like appearance. A white patch in its dark wings assists in the identification of this cuckoo species, when in full flight. In myth and folklore, the Pied Cuckoo is considered to be a sign – a harbinger – for the advent of the monsoon.

During the breeding season the Jacobin cuckoo is extensively vocal and is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in other nests, with the color of eggs being turquoise. The Pied Cuckoo mostly uses the nests of babblers to lay eggs. Babblers are communal breeders and it sometimes take a mini-village to care for a Pied Cuckoo chick.

The pied cuckoo feeds on insects, caterpillars and occasionally on fruits.

There are 3 subspecies to the Pied Cuckoo.

• C. j. serratus – South Africa including southern Zambia
• C. j. pica – Africa south of the Sahara to north Zambia and Malawi, northwest India to Nepal and Myanmar
• C. j. jacobinus – south India, Sri Lanka, south Myanmar

Source: E-Bird and Wikipedia.