Red-chested Cuckoo
Cuculus solitarius
Woodland, suburbia. Grey upperparts; brick-red breast; banded below. Orbital ring, lower mandible and legs yellow.
Cuckoos
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common summer resident and intra-Africa migrant. Told from other cuckoos by broad russet upper breast. Male calls from a high tree and often in flight. When in flight it appears hawk-like, a feature it has in common with Lesser, Madagascar, Common, African and Barred Long-tailed cuckoos. The well-known call of the male resembles the Afrikaans name ‘Piet-my-vrou’ or ‘quid-pro-quo’, loudly and frequently repeated; the female calls ‘pik-pik-pik-pik’. Occurs in a variety of wooded habitats. Male calls from a high tree and often in flight when, in common with others on this page, it appears hawk-like. Parasitises mostly robins. Like other cuckoos, more often heard than seen.
Quick Facts
Size
28 cm - M
Names
A: Piet-my-vrou
Z: uPhezukomkhono
Ss: Tlo-Nke-Tsoho
G: Einsiedlerkuckuck
Bird Family
Cuckoos are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds, and the majority are absent from southern Africa during the period March-September. The related coucals are larger, more robust and mainly sedentary birds that build their own nests and rear young in the conventional manner.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Occurs in a variety of wooded habitats.
