Clamator jacobinus
The pied plumage (though some birds are almost entirely black) gave rise to the Jacobin Cuckoo’s name as it is reminiscent of the clothes of Dominican monks, aka Jacobins. It is found in South Africa only during our warmer months, visiting us from the Indian subcontinent and further north in Africa between October and April. While here they’re most common in the northern and central parts of the country, although they are also found in lower densities in parts of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. Jacobin Cuckoos inhabit a wide variety of savanna and woodland habitats. They feed mainly on caterpillars which they catch among the greenery. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.
Being a brood parasite, the female Jacobin Cuckoo will lay her eggs in the nests of other birds, with about 17 host species recorded locally. Of these they mainly target the Cape, Red-eyed and Dark-capped Bulbuls, Sombre Greenbul and Common Fiscal. In a breeding season the pair may lay up to 25 eggs, one per nest, by working together – the male distracts the hosts from their nest while the female then sneaks in to lay the egg, usually without hurting the other eggs already in the nest. The Cuckoo egg then hatches after about two weeks of being incubated by the surrogate parents, and usually does not evict its nest mates like many other cuckoos do, though by claiming most of the food brought back to the nest it may still cause the other chicks to starve. The chick stays in the nest for almost 3 weeks after hatching and leaves its adoptive parents when it is about a month old. Fully grown they weigh about 80g and are around 34cm long.
DeWetsWild 
Interesting concept, the surrogate parents must love that “ugly” offspring just as much as their own. >grin<
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It’s amazing that their parental instinct is so strong that they’d raise a chick that obviously isn’t their own
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Baie interessant dat die voel die eiers in verskeie neste gaan le! Jou blog se nuwe uitleg en logo lyk pragtig Dries!
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Baie dankie, Aletta!
Die koekoeke het regtig n interessante voortplanting-strategie.
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I always enjoy seeing your featured birds 🙂
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I’m very glad to hear that, Anne! Would you believe we’ve now featured over 330 kinds of South African birds!?
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That’s a wonderful record!
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Goeiste … ek’s verstom hoe hulle ander voels se neste gebruik om hulle eiers daar te le! O ja, is ek reg dat jou blog logo verander het? Ek hou baie daarvan – ook die uitleg op jou blog!
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Dit is baie gaaf van jou, Corna – baie dankie! Ja, DeWetsWild – en ek – slaan nou n nuwe rigting in. Meer daaroor in die weke en maande wat voorle.
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An unusual but attractive bird especially when in black. 🙂 Sounds like it’s somewhat nicer than other cuckoos which is good to know. 🙂
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I wondered why it would be that this species is more “mild” in how it treats their hosts, but couldn’t get any the wiser.
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Fascinating bird, Dries. Thanks for teaching me the term brood parasite. Learn something new every day!
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Always nice when you come visit, Jane!
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Slim en skelm voëls. Dink net tot 25 eiers wat in verskillende neste gelê kan word, eintlik verskriklik as mens so daaraan dink.
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Hulle vul beslis hul plekkie in die ekosisteem baie goed!
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Beslis. Hul sorg vir die nageslag.
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