Cuculus sparverioides
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The large hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx sparverioides) 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.
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Found as a vagrant on Christmas Island. The subspecies H. s. bocki of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo is usually considered a separate species, the dark hawk-cuckoo.
Its natural habitats are temperate forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. They call in summer and calling goes on well after dusk. In their winter grounds, they tend to be silent. Like many other cuckoos, this species is a brood... Wikipedia →
Recording0:10
China · 2022
© Sun Jiao · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Recording0:20
China · 2024
© 红梅 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:25
Macao SAR China · 2026
© Miles 小智 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 6 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 7 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 11 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 12 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 13 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 14 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 15 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 17 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Large Hawk Cuckoo sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 136th most-seen of the 159 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Large Hawk Cuckoo in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–June and August–February, the lowest months. That is one of Cuc Phuong National Park's driest months, with about 80 mm of rain against 390 mm in August. July has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Large Hawk Cuckoo sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Large Hawk Cuckoo sightings, Cuc Phuong National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, about 20%), Langtang National Park (Nepal, about 20%) and Kinabalu Park (Malaysia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Large Hawk Cuckoo is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuc Phuong National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
