First Pied Cuckoo sighted in Kolkata on 17th May

This entry was posted Monday, 25 May, 2009 at 10:28 pm

By Kshounish Sankar Ray

17 May 2009, Joka Grassland, East of IIM Kolkata Campus, 22.4N 88.3E.

Mr Bhaskar Das and myself were intently watching a reed bed for the Black-browed Reed Warbler when this bird first-sighting_kolkata_rayflew across our vision and perched on an acacia bush nearby. It was before 6.00 am and the light was quite poor. As we shifted position for a better angle, it flew and I was lucky to get a few rather poor flight shots. No calls were heard. We stayed in the area for another three hours. No further sightings or calls were recorded.

It’s quite intriguing that the bird which is supposed to enter the subcontinent from the west was sighted early in the east. As per previous records, the Orissa coast is supposedly one of the places where it is observed early. A sea route for the migration?

[Note from MigrantWatch Admin: The first Pied Cuckoos in the Kolkata area last year were seen on 16 May by Radhanath Polley at the Dankuni Wetlands. Read more on bengalbird]



5 Comments to First Pied Cuckoo sighted in Kolkata on 17th May

  1. Shriram Vaijapurkar says:

    June 2nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm

    Dear Kshounish Sankar Ray
    You are lucky to watch first Pied Cuckoo at Kolkata. Congrats! I followed you on 25th May. In Marathi local language we call it. “Pavasha”-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.

  2. Raj says:

    November 10th, 2010 at 10:04 am

    A Pied Crested Cuckoo dashed against the glass of my office and was dazed. Karuna animal welfare revived the bird and helped her regain her strength. She was a pretty one… And it rained yesterday 🙂

  3. Shreesh Kshirsagar says:

    June 26th, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    I am afraid , this is not a Pawasha. This is simply Chaatak !!

  4. Shreesh Kshirsagar says:

    June 26th, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    Many people confuse these two birds.. Chaatak is a monsoon visitor, and Pawasha is a local one. Pied Cuckoo is Chaatak.

  5. Padmakar says:

    March 10th, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    cuckoo is making a sound in flight, Perte vha on the on set of monsoon. I followed the bird two years ago at Miraj to make sure. however, Many a times similar sound is created by Bulbul and Bush lark.

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