BirdUp · Species
Oriental Cuckoo
Cuculus optatusGould, 1845
Updated
At a glance
The Oriental Cuckoo is a medium-sized bird, about 30–34 cm long, listed as Least Concern and native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.
- Size
- 30–34 cm
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Origin
- Native
- Best seen
- Year-round
- Commonness
- Very common
01 · Identification
How to tell it apart
What does an Oriental Cuckoo look like?
The Oriental Cuckoo is a medium-sized bird, about 30–34 cm long and weighing 73–156 g.
The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfield's cuckoo is a bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo, with the name 'Oriental cuckoo' used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that it should be treated as a separate species. The binomial name Cuculus horsfieldi has often been used instead of Cuculus optatus, but is now usually considered to be a junior synonym.
Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
03 · When
When to look
When can you see an Oriental Cuckoo?
The Oriental Cuckoo is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
05 · Behaviour
Habits and haunts
What does an Oriental Cuckoo eat?
The Oriental Cuckoo feeds on primarily insectivorous and specializing in lepidopteran larvae., usually foraging in arboreal gleaner.
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