Large Hawk-Cuckoo

When to see the Large Hawk-Cuckoo

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 4 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is April, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Large Hawk-Cuckoo

The map shades 19 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Australia.

About the Large Hawk-Cuckoo

The large hawk-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide breeding distribution from temperate Asia along the Himalayas extending to East Asia. Many populations winter further south. They are known for their loud and repetitive calls which are similar to that of the common hawk-cuckoo but do not rise in crescendo. They are also somewhat larger and adults can be readily told apart from the smaller common hawk-cuckoo by the black patch on the chin. They are brood-parasites of babblers and laughing-thrushes.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Dark Hawk-CuckooHierococcyx bockiThe dark hawk-cuckoo is a bird in the family Cuculidae formerly considered conspecific with the large hawk-cuckoo and placed in the genus Cuculus. Moustached Hawk-CuckooHierococcyx vagansThe moustached hawk-cuckoo is 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) long, and it weighs about 58–63 g (2.0–2.2 oz). Northern Hawk-CuckooHierococcyx hyperythrusThe northern hawk-cuckoo is one of the smallest in the genus Hierococcyx at 28-30 cm in length, a weight between 99.0-147.8 g, and an average wing length of 20.2 cm, although measurements can vary slightly between sexes.