Seasoned Singers

Come summer and the forest becomes a music room! Melodious voices coming from all directions, but nothing visible. After spending hours looking for that ‘Melody Queen’ (like the hero of an old Hindi film searching for the heroine singing the song!) you finally find it (or sometimes you don’t and simply give up the search) hidden deep in the canopy or foliage; partly visible. And surprisingly, its not a ‘Melody Queen’; it’s a ‘Melody King’. Yes it’s a male cuckoo. After spending an utterly silent winter, these seasonal as well as seasoned singers sing their love songs, originally composed by them, throughout the summer and monsoon months.

Cuckoos are extremely secretive birds but their enchanting voices drive any birdwatcher crazy. Some species closely resemble one another, making them difficult to separate in the field. But all have their own unique calls and in their world there are no ‘copy cats’ (mimics in other words). Cuckoos are parasitic, that is they lay their eggs on other birds’ nests. The fact that koels lay their eggs on the nests of crows is known to all.

Getting back to the musical tale; the cuckoo that you are most likely to hear, sitting in your houses is the Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea). The all-black male has a sweet ‘ku-ooo... ku-ooo’ call which is repeated continuously in the summer months. The female, on the other hand, has a harsh and ‘domineering’ voice. Unlike other cuckoos, this species is not difficult to find and can be heard throughout the year (others are silent in winter). Another cuckoo, that you might find near your houses is the Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis), locally called Bhardwaj. It is a large, aggressive looking and non-parasitic (builds a nest of its own) cuckoo with a heavy booming voice. Though shy, it is commonly seen and heard (often in winters). Its chestnut wings contrasting with its black body give it a well-deserved name- Crow pheasant.

The Common Hawk Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius) is commonly heard in forests and well-wooded areas, but is not easily seen. More active in monsoon (when it often comes to the open to make a ‘guest appearance’), this bird is thought to be an indicator of the wet season. Its call can be described as a musical ‘pee-pee-ah…pee-pee-ah’ (interpreted as ‘brain-fever…brain-fever’, hence the common name Brainfever bird) which rises to a crescendo, slides down and the initial lines are repeated. Last summer when I was in Maneybhanjang in Sikkim as a part of an excursion, I used to wake up at four in the morning to do my ‘business’. It was then when another cuckoo, the Large Hawk (Hierococcyx sparverioides), a slightly larger cousin of the Common Hawk Cuckoo, would entertain me in that isolated hill city. Its call is similar to the Common Hawk, but breaks off suddenly while coming down the crescendo. That guy would keep me glued to the loo!

The Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus) is a black and white bird, with a short crest, which migrates to most of the country in summer. It is easily seen in wooded areas and sometimes even close to habitations. Its musical whistle, ‘piu-pi-pi-pi-piu’, repeated continuously, is a delight to the ears.

The Eurasian Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is perhaps the bird from which the name ‘cuckoo’ has been derived. Its call, a plain ‘cuck-oo…cuck-oo’ is repeated monotonously. My very first sighting of this bird has been most memorable. It happened when my brother, I and another friend of ours; all three of whom were new to birding, had set off to Telangkhedi Lake in Nagpur. Suddenly this bird emerged from nowhere and left us with wide mouths and scratchy heads as we tried to identify it. But in the very next moment, the bird said “cuck-oo” and flitted away. Our doubt was resolved! Its more secretive cousin, and my personal favourite- the Indian Cuckoo (C. micropterus) is the most melodious of all the cuckoos I have heard so far. Its call can be interpreted in many ways (like ‘crossword-puzzle’ by Dr. Salim Ali) When I went to Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra to volunteer for the waterhole census, I spent the entire night listening to this bird and the Common Hawk Cuckoo. One gave me a ‘brain fever’, while the other cured it! I also saw a male courting a female at dusk from a close range; and that is when I realized how loud cuckoos actually are.

So far I have seen only two more cuckoos in my life- the Drongo Cuckoo (Surniculus lugubris) and Grey-bellied Cuckoo (Cacomantis passerinus). The Drongo Cuckoo is a special bird for all those lucky Nagpurians who had seen it at the Botanical Garden as it was a new record for our city. Its melodious whistle- ‘pi-pi-pi-pi-pip’, a collection of ascending notes is constantly uttered. I still remember the day when one of these birds, without any ‘stage phobia’ gave us a live performance. We gathered under it and recorded its call with our cell phones. Now it has become a famous ringtone! On the other hand, the Grey-bellied Cuckoo’s call is a loud ‘pee-pipeee’ in a somewhat complaining tone.

As winter ceases to recede, there is a lot of music in store for the next season. Thinking about the months to come, my enthusiasm goes high with the hope of seeing and hearing more of those musical tunes and their rightful owners. With an inborn singing talent, cuckoos indeed are wonders of the natural world.