Jacobin Cuckoo
Clamator jacobinus
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
Overview
The Jacobin cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus), also pied cuckoo or pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. It has been associated with a bird in Indian mythology and poetry, known as the chātaka (Sanskrit: चातक) represented as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Angola
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- India
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Jacobin cuckoo
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.

