It’s drizzling cuckoos!
By MigrantWatch Admin
The first of the migrant Pied Cuckoos have arrived. Following the first sighting reported on 17 May by Kshounish Sankar Ray from Kolkata we now have reports of other sightings from across the country.
Alibag, Maharashtra
18 May, Alibag, Maharashtra; 18.6N, 72.8E
Reported by Dr. Vaibhav Deshmukh to birdsofbombay
Dr. Vaibhav Deshmukh, Pravin Kawale and Shriniwas made an unexpected discovery when they went to check on the status of a Shaheen Falcon’s nest at a communication tower at Alibag. While the chicks were being fed Rock Pigeons one of the parents got itself a Pied Cuckoo to feast on! According to Dr. Vaibhav “This was our first sighting of Pied crested cuckoo of this season; unfortunately it became meal for Shaheen”. Anecdotes suggest that Pied Cuckoos arrive exhausted from their flight over the Arabian Sea, and often fall prey to crows and other predators – perhaps the bird at Alibag was similarly handicapped. (You can read more about this on bngbirds.)
Note from MigrantWatch Admin: In 1931, Salim Ali recorded the first Pied Cuckoo of the year for Alibag on 24 May (Ali, S. 1931. JBNHS 34:4).
BR Hills, Karnataka
21 May, BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka, 11.98N, 77.13E
Reported by Samira Agnihotri to MigrantWatch
Samira heard the call of the Pied Cuckoo for the first time this season as she walked in the scrubby parts of south BRT. A glance in the direction of the call revealed a pair of these cuckoos flying around from tree to tree and calling repeatedly. The Soliga tribal who was assisting her told her that they call the birds “Malé Godda’ and that it had a reputation of hanging around in the rain a lot.
Sultanpur, Haryana
24 May, Sultanpur National Park, Gurgaon, Haryana, 28.32N, 77.03E
Reported by Cdr. Kanwar B. Singh to MigrantWatch
Kanwar Singh reported the first sighting of the Pied Cuckoo from Sultanpur in Haryana. A trip report by Soma Ateesh Tripathi on delhibird also mentions the sighting.
Nashik, Maharashtra
25 May; Dindori Road, Nashik, Maharashtra, 20.01N, 73.79E.
Reported by Shriram Vaijapurkar to MigrantWatch
Mr. Shriram Vaijapurkar spotted the Pied Cuckoo in the morning at 9:15 AM as it sat on the overhead cable and called. The cuckoo is a annual visitor to the area and this was the first sighting he has had of this bird this year.
Shriram Vaijapurkar says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:27 pm
In Maharashtra, in Marathi local language we call this bird as “Pavasha” or “Pausha”-the Bird which gives intimation of Paus or rain. Pavasha sings a song “Perte vha! Perte vha!!” means “start sowing, Rain is comming!”
The people know that It is a rain bird.
Prashanth says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Regarding the “Male Godda” transliteration of the Soliga name, I had a few comments:
The Soligas refer to a bird as Malegodda. However, I believe that this may actually be the Blackbird, referring to the ‘foolishness’ of the bird, building its nest in the rains. Often, when Soligas are asked about the name of a bird associated with the rain, they say this bird, and it gets transliterated to Pied Cuckoo. Also, when I tried asking the more elderly tribal people, they said that “Malegodda” is often in small flocks in winters and frequents moister and higher forests.
Udiyaman Shukla says:
July 14th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I was able to spot the first one in Delhi-14/06/09.
Chinmay says:
June 12th, 2012 at 7:21 am
I spotted the pied cuckoo at Goregoan, mumbai Somewhere in May ending 2012