FeatherScan logo
FeatherScan
Overview
Common hawk-cuckoo

Common hawk-cuckoo

Wikipedia

The common hawk-cuckoo, popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent. It bears a close resemblance to the shikra, even in its style of flying and landing on a perch. The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoo; like many other cuckoos, these are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of babblers. During their breeding season in summer males produce loud, repetitive three-note calls that are well-rendered as brain-fever, the second note being longer and higher pitched. These notes rise to a crescendo before ending abruptly and repeat after a few minutes; the calling may go on through the day, well after dusk and before dawn.

Loading map...

Distribution

Region

South Asia

Typical Environment

Occurs widely across the Indian subcontinent, including much of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It frequents open woodlands, scrub, secondary forests, groves, and well-treed agricultural land. The species readily uses gardens, city parks, and plantations where tall trees and dense foliage offer foraging and cover. It is less common in dense evergreen forest interiors but thrives along edges and in mixed habitats.

Altitude Range

Sea level to 2000 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size30–34 cm
Wing Span55–60 cm
Male Weight0.12 kg
Female Weight0.13 kg
Life Expectancy8 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

Also called the brain-fever bird, its insistent three-note call crescendos through hot-season days and often continues into the night. It mimics small hawks like the shikra in plumage and flight, which may reduce mobbing by other birds. Like many cuckoos, it is a brood parasite, most often laying its eggs in the nests of babblers. It is widespread and adaptable in the Indian subcontinent.

Gallery

Bird photo
Bird photo
Bird photo
Bird photo
Immature with orange bill and indistinct eye-ring (Kolkata)

Immature with orange bill and indistinct eye-ring (Kolkata)

Feeding on a hairy caterpillar

Feeding on a hairy caterpillar

Behaviour

Temperament

solitary and secretive

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats with swift, hawk-like dashes and brief glides

Social Behavior

Generally solitary outside of breeding season. As a brood parasite, the female covertly lays eggs in the nests of babblers and related species; hosts rear the chick. Nests are not built by the species itself, and adults keep a low profile near host territories.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

A loud, repetitive three-note call often rendered as 'brain-fe-ver,' rising to a piercing crescendo and ending abruptly. Calls are most frequent in the hot season and can continue well after dusk and before dawn.

Similar Bird Species

Common hill myna
Resident

Common hill myna

The common hill myna, sometimes spelled "mynah" and formerly simply known as the hill myna or myna bird, is the myna most commonly sighted in aviculture, where it is often simply referred to by the latter two names. It is a member of the starling family (Sturnidae), resident in hill regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Sri Lanka hill myna, a former subspecies of G. religiosa, is now generally accepted as a separate species G. ptilogenys. The Nias hill myna are also widely accepted as specifically distinct, and many authors favor treating the southern hill myna from the Nilgiris and elsewhere in the Western Ghats of India as a separate species.

Common iora
Resident

Common iora

The common iora is a small passerine bird found across the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with populations showing plumage variations, some of which are designated as subspecies. A species found in scrub and forest, it is easily detected from its loud whistles and the bright colours. During the breeding season, males display by fluffing up their feathers and spiral in the air appearing like a green, black, yellow, and white ball.

Common jery
Endemic

Common jery

The common jery is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is endemic to Madagascar.

Common kestrel
Migratory

Common kestrel

The common kestrel, also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel or Old World kestrel, is a species of predatory bird belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. In the United Kingdom, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called the "kestrel".

Common kingfisher
Resident

Common kingfisher

The common kingfisher, also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

Common linnet
Migratory

Common linnet

The common linnet is a small passerine bird of the finch family, Fringillidae. It derives its common name and the scientific name, Linaria, from its fondness for hemp seeds and flax seeds—flax being the English name of the plant from which linen is made.