First arrival of the Pied Cuckoo in 2010 in relation to the onset of the Southwest Monsoon

by Mousumi Dutta

Mousumi Dutta is a frequent contributor to the MigrantWatch database. She is an avid birder, and spends her spare time on bird and wildlife conservation. She works with the Indian Meteorological Department, and so has a particular interest in bird migration. Mousumi’s MigrantWatch sightings page is here.

India’s climate is dominated by monsoons. Most of its annual rainfall (86%) occurs during the Southwest monsoon months. The monsoon is a key influence on agricultural output as well as the overall economic growth of India. From ancient times it has been believed that the onset of the monsoon is associated with the appearance of the Pied Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus.

The Southwest monsoon normally sets in over Southeast Bay of Bengal on 20 May and then over Kerala on 1 June. An analysis of the first sighting dates of the Pied Cuckoo and the onset of the Southwest monsoon for the year 2010 (see figure below) shows a fairly systematic pattern. In general, the first sighting of this species in a State is 20-25 days in advance of the onset of the monsoon in that State. This appears to be earlier, relative to the monsoon, than reported for last year.

These patterns indicate an interesting relation between the onset of the monsoon and the arrival of Pied Cuckoos. Long term studies are needed to clarify the details of the relationship between the monsoon winds and Pied Cuckoo migration.

Methods
First sighting dates (after January 2010) for Pied Cuckoos for each State were taken from the MigrantWatch database. (Maharashtra and the four southern States were excluded.) Dates of the onset of the monsoon for each State are taken from the Indian Meteorological Department’s monsoon pages (click on “Northern Limits of Monsoon”). The data used to generate the figure are given below. The links under “Reported by” point to the sighting page on MigrantWatch.

State	First Sighting	Onset of Monsoon	Reported by
Orissa	16 May	13 June	Aditya Panda
West Bengal	17 May	14 June	Supriyo Ghatak
Gujarat	30 May	16 June	Nandita Amin
Madhya Pradesh	10 June	4 July	Anand Kumar Bhatt
Uttarakhand	27 May	5 July	Sharad Khanna
Chandigarh	6 June	5 July	Vikram Jit Singh
Delhi, including NOIDA	31 May	5 July	KB Singh, email to MigrantWatch
Haryana	22 June	5 July	Vikram Jit Singh
Himachal Pradesh	29 June	5 July	Devinder Singh Dhadwal
Rajasthan	24 May	6 July	Saandip Nandagudi

 

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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.