The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo is a cuckoo with widespread occurrence throughout Asia.
Region
South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Typically found in open woodland, scrub, secondary growth, forest edges, mangroves, and cultivated landscapes with scattered trees. It adapts well to human-modified habitats, including gardens and plantations. Often keeps to mid-canopy or dense shrubs, making it inconspicuous despite frequent calling. Occurs widely across the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, and east to Myanmar and adjacent regions.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the Indian plaintive cuckoo, this small cuckoo is more often heard than seen, giving a clear, plaintive whistle in long series. It is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of small warblers like prinias, tailorbirds, and cisticolas. Males are mostly grey, while females often occur in a rufous, heavily barred morph that can look quite different. It frequents open habitats, farmlands, and scrub across much of South Asia and into parts of Southeast Asia.
Grey bellied cuckoo
Grey-bellied Cuckoo(Cacomantis passerinus)
Temperament
shy and elusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides
Social Behavior
Largely solitary outside the breeding season. As a brood parasite, it does not build its own nest and instead lays eggs in the nests of small passerines. Breeding activity and vocalizations often peak with monsoon rains, when host species are nesting.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
A clear, plaintive whistled series, often rendered as repeated pee-pee-pee or pee-pip-pee phrases. Calls carry far and are most frequent at dawn and dusk, sometimes continuing through overcast days.
Plumage
Male largely slaty-grey above with grey underparts and a darker, graduated tail with pale spotting; female often in a rufous morph with strong dark barring on the underparts and tail.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects, including caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, and moths. It also takes spiders and other small arthropods. Occasionally snaps flying prey or gleans from foliage and twigs. Small berries may be taken opportunistically.
Preferred Environment
Forages in shrubs, hedgerows, and the mid-canopy of open woodland, plantations, and forest edges. Often hunts along vegetation edges and clearings where prey is abundant.
