八声杜鹃 Plaintive Cuckoo
Cacomantis merulinus

小型鸟类
体长 18~23 cm

虹膜 /iris

红褐色 /reddish-brown

嘴 /bill

上嘴黑色，下嘴黄色/ black with yellow base

脚 /legs and feet

黄色 /yellow

目 │ 鹃形目CUCULIFORMES 科 │ 杜鹃科Cuculidae

野外识别 │ 雄鸟头、颈和上胸灰色，背至尾暗灰色，尾具白色端斑，胸以下栗色，上下体均无横斑。雌鸟通体具灰黑色和栗色相间的横斑。鸣声为“ pi pi pi pi pihihihu ”，第二个音节较长和响亮、传播很远，重复 5~10 次。

居留及分布 │ 分布在印度东部、中国南部、大巽他群岛及菲律宾等地。国内分布于西藏、四川、云南、福建等地。在南岭为夏候鸟，于乳阳和大顶山有记录。

生境及习性 │ 主要栖息于低山丘陵、草坡、耕地和村庄附近。单独或成对活动，性较活跃。繁殖期间常整天鸣叫。主要以昆虫为食。自己不营巢，通常将卵产于缝叶莺的巢中，卵青蓝色或白色。

Field identification │ A small, slim cuckoo with a long graduated tail tipped white on the underside. Adults have a grey hood extending to the upper breast, greyish-brown mantle, wings and tail, and unmarked orange-buff underparts. On“hepatic”birds, the upperparts are dark rufous-brown barredblack and the underparts whitish with narrow brown bars. Juveniles resemble hepatic birds, but are streaked on the crown, neck, mantle and breast. Adults utter a plaintive whistle consisting of four slow notes followed by four rapid notes which descend in pitch pi pi pi pi pihihihu .

Distribution & status │ Widely distributed from India to southern China and SE Asia. In China, the subspecies querulus is a summer visitor, occurring mainly to the south of the Yangtze, and also occasionally found throughout the year in southernmost parts. In Nanling, it is a summer visitor, recorded at Ruyang and Dadingshan.

Habitat & habits │ Plaintive Cuckoos occur singly or in pairs in open habitats, including farmland edge and urban parks, where they feed on insects, especially caterpillars and other Lepidoptera larvae. Common Tailorbird is known to be a host species in Guangdong.