No.185 Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus

L=27.5cm

 Rank : 2
Summer Visitor
Common summervisitor to Asakawa River basin. The bird’s song that sounds like “Tokkyokyokakyoku”, literally meaning “patent license office”, heralds one thatsummer is just around the corner. The bird sings night and day, in flightand on perch. Cuculidae family birds like Common Cuckoo and Lesser Cuckoo,known as “brood-parasitic” birds, lay their eggs in other birds’ nests.Lesser Cuckoo lays its eggs mainly in the nest of Japanese Bush Warbler.Among other cuckoos in Japan, many of them look alike, Lesser Cuckoo is thesmallest. Bars on underparts more widely spaced.

Lesser Cuckoo (Adult)