Cuculus nisicolor
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx nisicolor), also known as the whistling hawk-cuckoo, is a species of cuckoo found in north-eastern India, Myanmar, southern China and southeast Asia. Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo is a brood parasite. The chick evicts bona fide residents of the parasitized nest, thus becoming the sole occupant. Under normal circumstances, this would reduce the provisioning rate as the foster parents see only one gape. To counteract this, the Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo displays gape-coloured patches of skin under its wing to simulate additional gapes; the strategy appears to increase the provisioning rate. This is in contrast to other species of cuckoo (such as the common cuckoo) which increase the rapidity of high pitched hunger calls to increase the provisioning rate.
Although the skin patch is not gape shaped, it is convincing: host parents occasionally place food into the patch. Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo was formerly regarded as having four subspecies. The Philippine hawk-cuckoo is now commonly treated as a separate species, H. pectoralis. The remaining forms are also now split into three species: Malaysian hawk-cuckoo (H. fugax), Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (H. nisicolor) and rufous hawk-cuckoo or northern hawk-cuckoo (H. hyperythrus).
The common name commemorates the British naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson. Wikipedia →
Recording0:17
Hong Kong SAR China · 2020
© johnallcock · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:13
China · 2026
© tianyang · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:07
Hong Kong SAR China · 2023
© Lawrence Hylton · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cuculus nisicolor sighting in Namdapha National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 282nd most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cuculus nisicolor in Namdapha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months. June to September have too few records to rate.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Cuculus nisicolor sightings, Namdapha National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Royal Manas National Park (Bhutan, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cuculus nisicolor is recorded against all the birds logged in Namdapha National Park (8 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.
