Himalayan Cuckoo

This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Cuculus saturatus

Malay Name: Sewah Gunung Asia

Chinese Name: 中杜鹃

Range: Found from northeast Pakistan, northern Indian subcontinent to southern China and winters to Southeast Asia and northern Australia

Taxonomy: Monotypic.

Size: 29 cm

Identification: Adult resembles Indian Cuckoo but has grey head, breast and upperparts, whitish underparts with prominent blackish bars and less obvious or no blackish bars on undertail-coverts. Hepatic female resembles hepatic female Plaintive and Rusty-breasted Cuckoo but has deeper orange upperparts and whiter underparts. It was formerly considered conspecific with Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) which may but not confirmed to occur in Singapore. Based on current knowledge, it is impossible to separate Himalayan and Oriental Cuckoo in the field.

Similar looking species: Indian Cuckoo

Habitat: Forest, secondary growth and wooded areas.

Behaviour/Ecology:

Local Status: Very rare migrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2021)

Featured articles:

Featured reports: Mar 2023

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Himalayan Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus
Average number of individuals by week based on Singapore Bird Database data, Jul 2013 to Jun 2023 (all records)
Early date 21 Oct 1995
Late date 02 Dec 1995
Bar chart not displayed for this species; no records in the given time period.
Difficulty in separating this species from the visually identical Oriental Cuckoo (which has not yet been confirmed to occur in Singapore) has led to a low number of proven records.
Female hepatic morph Himalayan Cuckoo at Bidadari. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Adult Himalayan Cuckoo at Bidadari. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Adult Himalayan Cuckoo at Bidadari. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Female hepatic morph Himalayan Cuckoo at Bidadari. Photo Credit: Alan Ng

External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Himalayan Cuckoo)

References:

BirdLife International. (2021). Cuculus saturatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22734715A201099367.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Lim, K. S. (2009). The Avifauna of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore).

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Himalayan Cuckoo. Retrieved on May 9, 2024 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/himalayan-cuckoo.

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