The other day on Xeno-Canto I uploaded this call of a juvenile common hawk cuckoo that I recorded on 11th December 2011. As of now this is the only available call of a juvenile common hawk cuckoo on the X-C database.
A bit on Piyali
On Saturday December 10th, 2011 my friend Partha and I went to Piyali Island with our families. It was to be a weekend birding trip. I have been to Piyali several times before. I like this place because it offers mangrove variety of avian fauna within a reasonable driving distance from Calcutta. And it also offers reasonably priced accomodation. This is a difficult combination in Sunderban.
Oriental Bird Images has picked up the image of the bird and it is displayed on their website.
The story of the sighting and recording
At the resort we found this juvenile common hawk cuckoo making this call non-stop. By non-stop I mean literally non-stop. The bird kept calling like this throughout the day on Saturday and then again we saw it on Sunday (when I recorded the call). This stopped only with the sun set. On Saturday I was more busy observing the bird and didn't record because there was a lot of environmental noise in that area. But on Sunday we saw it again and then recorded. There is still some environmental noise (someone grinding spices in an iron container with a hammer - in Bengali we call it haman/dista) and I have tried to eliminate it as much as possible.
The bird was hanging around with the jungle babblers which are plentiful there on that island. And soon we realised that it was actually begging for food from its foster parents. And then we saw that amazing sight of a jungle babbler feeding it. Both Partha and I missed that incredible shot because it lasted for only a few seconds.
I hope we will be able to see this sight again in life. Till then just a profile shot will have to do.
A bit on Piyali
On Saturday December 10th, 2011 my friend Partha and I went to Piyali Island with our families. It was to be a weekend birding trip. I have been to Piyali several times before. I like this place because it offers mangrove variety of avian fauna within a reasonable driving distance from Calcutta. And it also offers reasonably priced accomodation. This is a difficult combination in Sunderban.
Oriental Bird Images has picked up the image of the bird and it is displayed on their website.
The story of the sighting and recording
At the resort we found this juvenile common hawk cuckoo making this call non-stop. By non-stop I mean literally non-stop. The bird kept calling like this throughout the day on Saturday and then again we saw it on Sunday (when I recorded the call). This stopped only with the sun set. On Saturday I was more busy observing the bird and didn't record because there was a lot of environmental noise in that area. But on Sunday we saw it again and then recorded. There is still some environmental noise (someone grinding spices in an iron container with a hammer - in Bengali we call it haman/dista) and I have tried to eliminate it as much as possible.
The bird was hanging around with the jungle babblers which are plentiful there on that island. And soon we realised that it was actually begging for food from its foster parents. And then we saw that amazing sight of a jungle babbler feeding it. Both Partha and I missed that incredible shot because it lasted for only a few seconds.
I hope we will be able to see this sight again in life. Till then just a profile shot will have to do.
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