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PLATE 64: CUCKOOS I
Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus pm, wv
L: 43. Large with stout bill, short wings and rather long tail. Male black with bluish gloss and
bright yellow-green bill. Female has drab brown upperparts, thinly streaked and spotted white;
throat heavily streaked dark brown, rest of underparts densely barred dark brown and buff; dark
tail with many thin whitish bars. Immature resembles female. Eye garnet red. When not alarmed
has characteristic hunched stance. Flight direct. Voice Seldom heard in region; loud whistled koo-yl;
also a rapid ascending series of bubbling notes kwow-kwow-kwow-kwow. Habitat Scrub, gardens,
woodland, fruit trees. Note Rare winter visitor to hatched area; vagrant Iran, Kuwait, UAE.Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus pm
L: 33. Size of Common Cuckoo; distinctive black-and-white plumage, crest, long graduated tail and
conspicuous white wing-patches in flight. A rarer black morph occurs (but which also shows white
in wing). Juvenile is sooty above with dirty white underparts and smaller crest. Voice Loud, metallic
piu-piu-pee-pee-piu, pee-pee-piu. Habitat Scrub, woodland edge. Note Scarce summer/passage
visitor as hatched; vagrant Iran, UAE. [Alt: Pied Cuckoo]Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius V
L: 40. Large cuckoo with slight crest, very long tail, grey upperparts and white-spotted
coverts; underparts white, with buffy throat. Juvenile is dark brown above with blackish head,
white-spotted coverts and shows distinctive chestnut primaries (above and below). Often on
ground; flight rather fast, with shallow wingbeats. Voice Harsh, chattering chil, chil, chil, chil.
Habitat Woodland, cultivation with bushes and trees. Note Passage hatched (rarer in autumn);
vagrant Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Yemen.Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus PM, mb?
L: 33. In flight, has resemblance to Common Kestrel, but head held slightly raised and wings not
lifted above level of body. Grey above with barring on underparts; grey underwing has pale line
through centre. Female similar, with warm wash on breast. Rufous morph, in which female and
juvenile have brownish-red plumage with noticeable barring on upperparts and breast, relatively
common in Middle East. Grey morph juvenile is dark brownish-grey, with pale fringes above and
whitish spot on nape. Voice Far-carrying song unmistakable, kwuk-koo or kwuk, kwuk-koo, first
note highest; female has distinctive descending, long bubbling call. Habitat Open country, trees and
bushes, open woodland. Note May breed Musandam/northern UAE; passage hatched.Diederik Cuckoo Chrysococcyx caprius MB
L: 18. Slightly larger than Wryneck and of similar shape, with tail often held slightly raised. Metallic-
green male and bronzy female told by white spotting on wings, white supercilium, white crown-
streak, whitish barring on outer tail feathers and bold barring on flanks, belly and undertail-
coverts. Juvenile told by plain rufous-buff upperparts and barred outer tail feathers. Rather
secretive; appears quite long-tailed in flight. Voice Plaintive, loud pee-pui-pui (last note often
double); psee-psee-psu (last note lower) or dee-dee-dee-deederic (emphasis on last note), often
openly from high in tree. Habitat Dry scrub and open woodland; parasitises nests of Rüppell’s
Weaver in region. Note Breeding summer visitor to S Oman and Yemen; vagrant SW Saudi Arabia.
[Alt: Didric Cuckoo]