Coromandel cuckoo
| Coromandel cuckoo | ||||||||||
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Coromandel cuckoo ( Clamator coromandus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Clamator coromandus | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The coromandel cuckoo ( Clamator coromandus ) is a species from the family of cuckoo birds, which belongs to the so-called crested cuckoos . It is a medium-sized, slender cuckoo that is native to the Oriental region . In large parts of its Asian distribution area, it is a migratory bird. Despite its large distribution area, the coromandel cuckoo is considered to be monotypical .
Like many species within the cuckoo, the coromandel cuckoo is an obligatory breeding parasite that does not raise its offspring itself.
features
The coromandel cuckoo reaches a body length of 38 to 46 centimeters and is thus the largest cuckoo within the species of the crested cuckoo . The tail accounts for an average of around 23 centimeters. The beak has a length of 2.3 centimeters. Coromandel cuckoos weigh between 66 and 84 grams.
There is no pronounced gender dimorphism . In both males and females, the top of the head, the sides of the head and the bonnet are shiny black. A striking white ring runs down the neck. The back is otherwise glossy black. The inner arm covers and the upper tail covers are also glossy black. In contrast, the wings of the hand and the coverts are bright chestnut brown.
The chin and throat are pale rust-colored, the chest and belly are white. On the flanks this turns into a gray-white, the under-tail-coverts are black and shine purple. The control springs are black-violet, the outer control springs have white tips.
The feather bonnet develops in young birds from the fifth week of life. They show the plumage of the adult birds from the third month of life. Until then, they will be olive brown on the top of the body. Their neck ring is not yet white, but reddish-white.
Adult birds have a pale red-brown iris, while juvenile birds are still hazel-brown. The beak is black with a greenish tinge. The feet and legs are gray.
Distribution area
The coromandel cuckoo is a migratory bird whose range extends along the Himalayas. It occurs in the foothills of the Himalayas in the north and northeast of India and is a resident bird in Manipur . The distribution area also extends over Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, the north and east of Thailand, Indochina and parts of China. In China, it can be found during the summer half-year in Jiangsu , Fujian , Guangdong , Hainan , in the east of Sichuan and from southern Yunnan to the north of Gansu and the south of Shaanxis .
The coromandel cuckoo winters in the south of India, on Sri Lanka, on the Malay Peninsula , in the region around Singapore and Sumatra. He is a rare guest in Java and Bali, and even more rarely in Borneo in the winter months. The wintering areas also include Luzon , Mindanao , Palawan , Sanga Sanga , Siquijor and Tawi-Tawi .
habitat
The coromandel cuckoo occurs from the lowlands up to altitudes of 2450 meters. It colonizes forested regions from secondary thickets to open forest areas with low-growth trees, thickets along rivers, agricultural areas and gardens in smaller villages. During the migration it can also be found in mangrove forests, in orchards and on plantations, on large reed areas and in thickets along agricultural areas.
On the Malay peninsula, the coromandel cuckoo is not found above 400 meters above sea level; in Nepal, too, it is mostly found in the lowlands and is rare above 365 meters above sea level. In Bhutan, however, its altitude ranges from 400 to 1600 meters. In other regions of the Himalayas it can be found up to 1500 meters above sea level, in Sri Lanka even at heights of 2000 meters.
Way of life and food
The coromandel cuckoo is a shy bird that can be observed either individually or in small, loose groups outside of the breeding season. It stays mostly in the undergrowth and changes quickly from one small tree to the next.
The food mainly consists of large insects such as caterpillars, beetles, ants, praying mantises and spiders. They also eat small fruits. In captive coromandel cuckoos, it has been observed that they initially bite off both ends of caterpillars and then remove the intestinal contents by violently hitting the caterpillars against branches before they swallow them.
Reproduction
The coromandel cuckoo is an obligatory brood parasite that does not raise its young itself. The host birds that are paratized by this cuckoo species mainly belong to the Leiothrichidae family . Garrulax monileger is considered the most frequently parasitized host bird . 45 percent of the nests parasitized by the coromandel cuckoo were nests of this type.
The breeding season in India falls between April and August. In Burma, the breeding season is mainly determined by the host birds and usually falls in the months of March to May, but they also use the second clutch of their host birds and therefore eggs are laid until August. The eggs of the coromandel cuckoos are similar to those of the host birds, but are rounder and thicker-skulled and have a shade of blue that differs slightly from the eggs of the host birds.
So far there is no evidence that the nestlings of the coromandel cuckoo throw eggs or nestlings of their host bird out of the nest. However, there are indications that, similar to the jays , Jacobins and Cape cuckoos belonging to the same genus , the nestlings of the coromandelion cuckoo hatch earlier than their nest siblings and grow faster and prove to be more assertive when begging for food, so that no or fewer nestlings of the host bird grow up.
Duration
The coromandel cuckoo has a very large distribution area and is not considered endangered. However, it is not a common bird in almost its entire range. Only in China is it considered to be a more common species.
etymology
The specific epithet was given in 1766 by Carl von Linné . His classification of the species, which he originally named Cuculus coromandus , was based on notes by the French zoologist Mathurin-Jacques Brisson , who described the bird as "Le coucou hupé de Coromandel" because its specimen copy came from the Indian Coromandel coast . The French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon noticed the similarity of the Coromandel cuckoo with the Jacobin cuckoo and he called it "le Jacobin huppé de Coromande". The species was later classified in the genus Coccystes , then Oxylophus , before finally being assigned to the crested cuckoo.
literature
- NB Davies: Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats . T & AD Poyser, London 2000, ISBN 0-85661-135-2 .
- Johannes Erritzøe , Clive F. Mann , Frederik P. Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-7136-6034-0 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ a b c Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 260.
- ↑ a b c d Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 261.
- ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 262.
- ↑ Latham, John: A General Synopsis of Birds. Volume 1. Part 2 1782, p. 520.
- ^ Leonhard Stejneger: The generic name Coccystes untenable in: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Volume 15, 1902.