Cuckoos (Cuculidae)

Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) - HBW 4, p. 560

French: Coucou plaintif German: Klagekuckuck Spanish: Cuco Plañidero
Other common names: Brain-fever Bird; Indian Plaintive Cuckoo, Grey-bellied Cuckoo (passerinus); Rufous-bellied Plaintive Cuckoo, Grey-breasted Brush Cuckoo (merulinus)

Taxonomy: Cuculus merulinus Scopoli, 1786, Panay, Philippines.
Included in Cuculus by some authors. Grey-bellied form passerinus sometimes recognized as a distinct species on basis of reported sympatry in NE India, but songs of passerinus and merulinus are the same, their juvenile plumages are similar, and the host species of passerinus appear to be the same as for races querulus and merulinus, indicating a similar ecological role too. Situation unclear in E Nepal, where race querulus was reported twice in 1980's, during Feb. Five subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

passerinus (Vahl, 1797) - Himalayas of N Pakistan and N India E to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and possibly Assam, and S through peninsular India to Nilgiris and Wynad (Kerala); winters S to Sri Lanka and Maldive Is.
querulus Heine, 1863 - Assam and Lower Bengal E to S China (including Hainan), and S through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to N Peninsular Malaysia; some migrate S to peninsular India and SE Asia.
threnodes Cabanis & Heine, 1863 - S Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.

See all 5 subspecies

passerinus (Vahl, 1797) - Himalayas of N Pakistan and N India E to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and possibly Assam, and S through peninsular India to Nilgiris and Wynad (Kerala); winters S to Sri Lanka and Maldive Is.
querulus Heine, 1863 - Assam and Lower Bengal E to S China (including Hainan), and S through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to N Peninsular Malaysia; some migrate S to peninsular India and SE Asia.
threnodes Cabanis & Heine, 1863 - S Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
lanceolatus (S. Müller, 1843) - Java and Sulawesi.
merulinus (Scopoli, 1786) - Philippines.