Large Hawk-Cuckoo

The large hawk-cuckoo is a bulky, long-tailed cuckoo whose broad rounded wings and barred plumage create a hawk-like appearance. Adults are brown above and whitish below with dark barring, warm orange across the breast and a diagnostic black chin patch; the tail carries broad dark bars. Its persistent, repeated whistled call is much more often detected than the bird, which commonly sings from dense upper foliage (eBird species account; Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds from the Himalayas across temperate East Asia and many populations move south for winter, reaching Southeast Asia and other parts of Southeast Asia. Breeding birds use foothill and montane forest, while migrants may occur lower and along forest edges or open areas. Like many cuckoos it is a brood parasite, laying mimetic eggs in nests of babblers, laughingthrushes and various other songbirds. The separated Dark Hawk-Cuckoo is Hierococcyx bocki of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo (Wikipedia; Avibase; IOC-aligned checklists).