About the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
The chestnut-winged cuckoo or red-winged crested cuckoo is a cuckoo found in Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. It has dark glossy upperparts, a black head with long crest chestnut wings, a long graduated glossy black tail, rufous throat dusky underside and a narrow white nuchal half collar. They breed along the Himalayas and migrate south in winter to Sri Lanka, southern India and tropical Southeast Asia including parts of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It is about 47 cm (19 in) long.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
This dark and crested cuckoo has chestnut wings, a glossy black crest and a graduated tail (the feathers shortening in steps from the center outwards) whose terminal edges are white and inconspicuous unlike the white tips of the Jacobin cuckoo which is found in parts of its range. The black capping on the head is broken from black of the back by a white collar that extends to the sides of the neck. The lower parts are rufous turning to dark grey towards the vent. Young birds are dusky with a scaly appearance to the wing feathers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in South Korea, Japan, Palau.
When to see it
Peak activity in April · a variable species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Levaillant's CuckooClamator levaillantiiThe cuckoo is 37.5 cm (15 in) long, longer tailed than pied cuckoo, and with a more heavily streaked throat.
Great Spotted CuckooClamator glandariusThis species is slightly larger than the common cuckoo at 35–39 cm (14–15 in) in length, but looks much larger with its broad wings and long narrow tail.
Jacobin CuckooClamator jacobinusThis medium-sized, slim black and white cuckoo with a crest is distinctive.
Learn the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo for real
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