Thai National Parks

Species of Thailand

Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo

Hierococcyx nisicolor

Thomas Horsfield, 1821

In Thai: นกคัคคูเหยี่ยวอกแดง

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.

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Category / Seasonal Status

BCST Category: Recorded in an apparently wild state within the last 50 years

BCST Seasonal statuses:

  • Resident or presumed resident
  • Non-breeding visitor

Scientific classification

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Cuculiformes
Family
Cuculidae
Genus
Hierococcyx
Species
Hierococcyx nisicolor

Common names

  • Thai: นกคัคคูเหยี่ยวอกแดง

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Photos

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Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo

Range Map

Distribution map of Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo, Hierococcyx nisicolor in Thailand
  • Bang Pu Recreation Centre
  • Bangkok Province
  • Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Doi Inthanon National Park
  • Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park
  • Kaeng Krachan National Park
  • Khao Luang National Park
  • Khao Nam Khang National Park
  • Khao Phra - Bang Khram Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park
  • Khao Sok National Park
  • Khao Yai National Park
  • Khao Yoi District, Phetchaburi
  • Klaeng District, Rayong
  • Mae Wong National Park
  • Mueang Khon Kaen District, Khon Kaen
  • Mueang Phuket District, Phuket
  • Pha Daeng National Park
  • Phu Suan Sai National Park
  • Phutthamonthon District, Nakhon Pathom
  • Ramkhamhaeng National Park
  • Samut Prakan Province
Range map of Hierococcyx nisicolor in Thailand