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Chestnut-winged Cuckoo Clamator coromandus Scientific name definitions

Robert B. Payne and Guy M. Kirwan
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated March 20, 2013

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Field Identification

38–46 cm (1); 66·4–86 g (1). Adult metallic glossy black above , black spiky crest, narrow white nape-band, wings chestnut , tail black ; chin to upper breast rusty, belly white; iris pale brown to dark brown or red, bill black with grey gonys, tarsi greyish green . Easily identified, as other similar-sized cuckoos are quite different: C. jacobinus is black and white with shorter crest, and no sympatric coucal with chestnut wings has a crest and/or white underparts (1). Juvenile dark olive-brown (1) above and on head with rufous-buff feather edges, buff edge to wing-coverts, tail with buffish or fulvous-white (1) tips and edges; white below, becoming smoky over flanks (1); irides hazel and bill base yellow-orange (1); at five weeks brown crest with dark buff tip appears; moults to adult plumage at three months.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

N India and Nepal E to S & E China (including Hainan) and Indochina, S to S Myanmar (Tenasserim). Winters S to S India and Sri Lanka, and Greater Sundas.

Habitat

Thick, low vegetation in wooded country, swamp forest and riparian woodland in Assam (1), scrub and bushes, orchards and plantations (1), tall reedbeds (1), cultivated lands and villages; also mangroves in winter and on migration. In winter on Borneo found in lowland dipterocarp and secondary forests, as well as oil palm plantations, hill rice and gardens in lowlands, but generally appears to favour more open habitats on Sumatra at same season (1). Occurs at altitudes of up to 2450 m, but is usually found lower, e.g. to 1500 m on Sumatra and in China, 1525 m in SE Asia, 1600 m in Bhutan, 1900 m in Myanmar and 2000 m in Sri Lanka, while species is rarely found above 365 m in Nepal and not above 400 m in Thai-Malay Peninsula (1).

Movement

Seasonal in summer in China, S Korea (where very rare) (1), Nepal, Bhutan (2) and N Myanmar, where it generally arrives May and departs Oct (in Bhutan, earliest 24 Mar, latest 5 Aug) (2); probably also only breeding visitor to N & C Thailand, wintering in peninsular Thailand and farther S; migrant in Malaysia. Resident in N India, S Vietnam and perhaps other parts of Indochina, and on Hainan and elsewhere in S China (1); winters in C & S India, Sri Lanka (Oct/Nov–Apr/May) (1), Malay Peninsula (where mainly present Nov–Feb, but overall date range 14 Sept–31 Mar) (1), Sumatra (Oct–2 Apr) (1), Java (very rare) (3), Bali (1) and Borneo (22 Sept–8 Mar) (1), occasionally to Bangka, N Sulawesi and the Philippines (Sept–Mar) (1). Vagrant to Maldives (Dec 2006) (4), Japan (c. 5 records) (1), Taiwan (1) Hong Kong, Sulawesi, Spratly Is (1) and Palau (W Micronesia) (1).

Diet and Foraging

Large insects, mainly caterpillars, beetles, mantids, ants and large orthopterans (1), also spiders and small fruits (1). Unpalatable stomach contents of large caterpillars are removed prior to the rest being consumed (1). Follows mixed-species flocks (1).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Noisy during breeding season, but apparently silent in non-breeding season in India and Thai-Malay Peninsula, though reported to gives a monotonous “bee bee” every few seconds in Philippines, where frequently vocalizes at night (1). Metallic territorial call is reminiscent of Hierococcyx vagans, but with shorter pause between each double note, “thu-thu, thu-thu, thu-thu”, or “TEE-TSEE--TEE-TSEE” (1); a guttural, descending rattle “ghee-ghe-ghuh-ghuh-ghuh-ghuh”, a grating woodpecker-like “critititit” and a “klinck-klinck” in flight or when disturbed (1). Loud, harsh screech, “creech-creech-creech”, and a hoarse whistle.

Breeding

Breeds in rains: in India Apr–Aug (mostly May–Jun) (1), in Bangladesh Mar–Aug and in Myanmar mainly Mar–May (second broods until Aug), with breeding suspected in S Korea in late Apr–May (1). Brood-parasitic: hosts mainly laughingthrushes (Garrulax and Leucodioptron) (5), with Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (G. monileger) suspected to account for up to 45% of records and at least 8–10 other species of laughingthrushes recorded, as well as the following other species: Common Magpie (Pica pica), Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis), Slaty-backed Forktail (Enicurus schistaceus), Blue Whistling-thrush (Myophonus caeruleus), Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina), Black-breasted Thrush (Turdus dissimilis), White-headed Babbler (Turdoides leucocephala), Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler (Erythrogenys erythrogenys) and Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) (1). Eggs pale blue, unmarked and usually without gloss (1), often more than one in a nest (exceptionally up to five eggs in a single nest and those of some species may also be simultaneously be parasitized by Hierococcyx sparverioides) (1); 25·4–29·9 mm × 20·3–24·4 mm (1). Nestling undescribed and few other reliable data, but several cuckoo chicks may be raised from a single host nest (1).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Although population levels are inadequately known, species appears to be rather uncommon and there is circumstantial evidence of a decline in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, but it is apparently still fairly common in China (1). It is very local in Nepal, but fairly common where it does occur, and rare in India, both in the breeding and wintering areas (1). In Thailand it is uncommon at all seasons, and in Vietnam it is said to be rather rare, with the same being generally true over the rest of Indochina (1) where, for example, there was just one record in Cambodia prior to 1970 (6). Elsewhere in its non-breeding range, this cuckoo is seen only occasionally on Borneo and Sumatra, and is rare in Sri Lanka (1), on Java and Bali (1).

Distribution of the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

Recommended Citation

Payne, R. B. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chwcuc1.01
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