From Opus

Photo by jontheo
Juvenile
Photographed: Haut district of France

Clamator glandarius

[edit] Identification

38cm

• Pale silvery-grey crown and crest
• Upperparts are grey with an abundance of white spots
• Chin and throat are yellowy-white
• Belly creamy-white

Photo by sdaly
Photographed near La Janda, Cadiz province, Andalucia, Spain, February 2006

[edit] Distribution

Turkey, Iraq, Iran and most of Africa.

Summer visitor to Spain, Portugal, southern France, Yugoslavia.

Vagrants occasionally venture elsewhere in Europe, including the British Isles.

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in heathland with occasional trees, cork and oak being a favourite. Also olive groves.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

Direct flight, much stronger than Common Cuckoo. The trailing tail makes the outline distinctive.
Adopts Eurasian Magpie-like postures during the breeding season.
Hops on the ground

[edit] Diet

It's diet consists mainly of insects.

[edit] Breeding

It parasitises nests of the crow family (mainly magpies), and may lay several eggs in the same nest. In southern Africa the most common hosts are Pied Crow, Cape Crow and Pied Starling.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Distribution from Birds of Kenya
3. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
4. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

[edit] External Links