Black Cuckoo vs Himalayan Cuckoo

Black Cuckoo

Cuculus clamosus

Medium79 gForest

The black cuckoo is a medium-sized cuckoo. The sexes are similar, the plumage varying by subspecies; Cuculus clamosus clamosus has upper parts black glossed with green, slatey-grey wings and black tail tipped with white and sometimes with the outer feathers barred or spotted with white or buff; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: le0p0ld_d · CC BY 4.0

Himalayan Cuckoo

Cuculus saturatus

Medium87 gForest

Adult male Himalayan cuckoos are dark ashy-grey above with a brown, almost black, tail that is whitely spotted and tipped. Legs and feet range between yellow and orange. The area from their chins to the breast is ash-grey, with their lower breast and abdomen being white with black bars, and a white to milky orange vent with varying bars. The eye-ring is yellow with yellow to brown irises—darker orange has been seen in males. Bills are black with an orange-yellow or green-yellow base. Their size approximately 30–35 cm and 70–140 g. Voice: Males are notably recorded more during dawn and dusk from high lookouts or in flight. Their call includes a high note followed by three lower flat notes, similar to "hoop, hoop-hoop" or "tun-tadun", much like that of a Common Hoopoe (Upupa epops) but lower-pitched and more muffled. The males also produce hoarse croaking sounds and chuckles, even a harsh "gaak-gaak-gak-ak-ak-ak" at times.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black Cuckoo and Himalayan Cuckoo.