Cuculus gularis
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The African cuckoo or African grey cuckoo (Cuculus gularis) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa where it migrates within the continent, generally arriving and breeding in any one locality during the rainy season. A fairly common bird, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
This is a medium-sized species with a long tail, with a total length of 32 cm (13 in). Its dashing flight makes it resemble a bird of prey. The sexes are similar, the head, upper parts and wings being dark grey, the throat and breast pale grey and the belly white barred with dark grey. The tail is dark grey with dark barring and a white tip. The eye is yellow in the male and light brown in the female. The beak is yellow, tipped with black or horn. The legs and feet are yellowish. The juvenile has two colour forms; the grey morph is greyer than the adult with white barring, the underparts being creamy-white with dense dark barring; the hepatic morph is brown rather than grey, the white being replaced by buff or a tawny hue. The call of the male is a "coo-coo" with the second note... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Cuckoo sighting in Meru National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 166th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Cuckoo in Meru National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month. Those are among Meru National Park's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. May and July–August have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Cuckoo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 28 parks where we can rate African Cuckoo sightings, Meru National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Lake Mburo National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same genus: Cuculus
The closest relatives of the African Cuckoo that you can see in Meru National Park (genus Cuculus, Typical Old World Cuckoos) are Common Cuckoo (about 30%), Red-chested Cuckoo (about 10%) and Black Cuckoo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Cuckoo is recorded against all the birds logged in Meru National Park (14 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.
