Plaintive Cuckoo

The plaintive cuckoo is a fairly small cuckoo, 21–24cm long, native to Asia from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia. The adult male is grey-brown above and orange below with a grey head, throat and upper breast, and white-tipped tail feathers. The legs and feet are yellow, the eye red, and the bill black above and yellow below (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a brood parasite, laying eggs similar to but larger than those of its hosts, which include cisticolas, prinias and tailorbirds. The male has several plaintive whistling calls. It feeds on invertebrates, is normally solitary and often difficult to see, and small birds often mob it to drive it away from their nests (Wikipedia, general species account).