Jacobin cuckoo: Clamator jacobinus

Jacobin cuckoo: Clamator jacobinus

 

Jacobin cuckoo: Clamator jacobinus

Gender: Both look alike.

Age: Adult

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Sighted at: Basai wetlands, Distt. Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

Date: 27.6.2015

Looking back down the trail you came from is a good thing in birding. Many birds which hid from you, teased you but remained unseen, fall for the safety of emptiness one leaves behind and creep out of their hiding places. I had heard this cuckoo’s call but couldn’t spot him in the dense fresh-foilaged kikars. However, when I looked back, just in case, there he was peeking out at the rising sun. It’s another matter he dived into the dense undergrowth at my first step back towards him. And then he flitted across into the tall reeds and was gone. But no worries – I have unprocessed photos of Jacobin cuckoo from my earlier trip to Keoladeo Ghana at the start of this month. That too was in a thicket but body shots are there.

Also called Pied cuckoo, black and white in colour and has a black crest. It’s about 20-25 cms in size, has white patch at base of primaries and tips of tail feathers.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom	-	Animalia
Phylum	-	Chordata
Class	-	Aves
Order	-	Cucliformes
Family	-	Cuclidae
Genus	-	Clamator
Species	-	jacobinus

 

Photographed at Basai-Dhankot wetlands, Distt. Gurgaon, Haryana, India, on 27^th June, 2015, using a Nikon D7200 camera and Tamron 150-600 mm lens.

 

-          Prashant V Tenjarla