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Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source ↗
Jacobin Cuckoo
Bontnuwejaarsvoël · Clamator jacobinus
A neat crested cuckoo, pied black-and-white, that arrives with the first summer rains and so earned the name rain-bird. It parasitises bulbuls and babblers. More confiding than most cuckoos, it often perches openly. It departs to tropical Africa and India for the southern winter.
Log your Jacobin Cuckoo sighting — free →How to identify it
Crested, black above and white below (a rare all-dark form exists); often perched in the open.
Listen for its call
Ringing, piping "klee-klee-kleeu" whistles.
Where to see it in Kruger
Woodland and thickets throughout in summer; often sits out in the open.
Did you know
People once believed its arrival each year meant the summer rains were on the way.
Often confused with
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