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Sorry... flippen sorry, man.

Dammit, WTM!

You may be right...

The wings are just too dark, and Roberts' also states that "young 'Red-chested' have white edges to feathers of upper body parts".

Touche.

But we shall meet again!

Photographed in Pretoriuskop during November 2008.

I got mine after years of searching trees an hour ago. This one's been around at dawn and sunset for weeks but always in the neighbour's garden. This evening it planted itself in a tree on our sidewalk in full view. Watched it for close to 20min with binoculars. A huge tick for me as I had to search for this one.

By far the best place, undoubtedly to find this nemesis of many a birder (I have seen big okes, crying like babies with wet nappies being carried out in straight jackets out of forests, mumbling "Cuckoo, cuckoo..." after failing to see it for the umpteenth time) is Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.

Well done GP!

I agree. I see them every time I go to Walter Sisulu - and that is at least once a week.... As is the case with Diederick and black cuckoo.

One has taken up residence across the road from our house in Greenside, JHB. This bird has been Piet-My-Vrouing for days (and nights), almost incessantly. Is this normal? Reason - attracting a mate?
Ta
Jeffrey

Yip, normal. We have a resident in our garden Piet-my-vrouing at 11 at night. There is a current thread on this bird but I can't post links from my mobile phone. Can a mod help maybe.

Does anyone know a website where one can hear/download the call of the Piet-my-vrou?

My son just came running to call me that there was a different bird on the garden wall...a young redchested cuckoo!! It sat there for about 15 minutes calling - 'pipipipi' - when a cape robin flew up & fed it!!! It then flew onto the neighbours wall, and after a bit of climbing on chairs and narrowly missing the electric fence I found it again & watched it calling again. The robin came again & fed it. The cuckoo then flew off, leaving the robin calling & looking for it. I have never seen a Piet-my-vrou before, or seen a bird feeding a different species! I know that they take over other bird's nests - could the egg have been layed in the robin's nest and been left there, and then been reared by the robin?

Wow Flutterby! Great sighting and amazing pics too!!

Thanks Yolande...I thought so too!

As I said before I knew that cuckoos took over other nests but I thought that they used them themselves. I have since been reading up about it and I didn't realise that they did leave the egg for another bird to hatch and rear, and I now see that the Cape Robin is the most common foster parent chosen by the Redchested Cuckoo. So...maybe not that unusual, but I think to get photos of the two of them together is probably quite rare.

Photographed this one in our Estate today, but just couldn't get it to turn around!
Red-chested Cuckoo

I’m trying to ID a Cuckoo I photographed and have done extensive searching and reading on the different features one need to take into account…my eyes are looking screw from all of this
I found this discussion on Jock’s cuckoo (starting from page 1 one this thread) and have to say it really helps a lot.
I had a very good look at the photos posted of Jock’s cuckoo…especially the ones posted by Elsa on page two….and am going to stick my neck out (again ) and ask the birding gurus of the forum to maybe just give this bird a second look.

Below are a few things that I have picked up and are interpreting it my way ( )…it will be realy great to get the input of others on this.

From what I read, it appears the feature that sparked the move towards the ID of Red-chested Cuckoo was that from the photos, it appeared that the bird had a dark eye. WTM made the following crop and when I looked at it more closely, I saw something that bugged me. I lighted the image and to me it now looks like the bird has a yellow iris …thus not the dark eye one would expect from a Red-chested Cuckoo.



The barring and red spot on the neck was also used to ID the bird as a Red-chested Cuckoo. In an attempt for me to ID my own bird, I realized that there are just to few photos of the Common Cuckoo taken in SA to really help me…so I went to look at photos taken abroad. I specifically looked at photos posted on the reputable birding group on Flickr….Field Guide: Birds of the World
The group contains photos of Common Cuckoo and Adrican Cuckoo
Among the photos of the Common Cuckoo, I found the following 2 that shows birds that appears to be in transition plumage between immature and adulthood. .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aalnaimicom/532203388/in/pool-42637302@N00
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yeliseev/195484953/in/pool-42637302@N00
From this, it looks to me that it is not impossible for a very young adult Common Cuckoo, for example, to have some barring and red colouring to the throat.
With the yellow iris, I suppose the only two options will thus be African or Common Cuckoo?

As for the markings on the tail, I do not have the trained eye as many of you to really note a big different between the to species. The photos I got on Flickr does not really show the under tail markings of the two species…I did however find some photos on Birdpics that does show the under tail of both species. (to get to the photo one need to select “cuckoos” under the “photos” link). I suppose the lines on the tail of the African Cuckoo is more “solid” while those on the Common Cuckoo looks more broken/scattered?? On especially the second photo Elsa has posted, the markings in my view more resemble that of the Common Cuckoo…but I’m sure other might view it different.



On this I completely agree with WTM, I have also not seen one photo of an African Cuckoo where the nostrils where not in the yellow area…actually, on all the photos the entire base of the upper mandible is yellow….this is absent on the Cuckoo Jock and Elsa photographed. Yet, I have to agree that this bird seems to have more yellow on the lower mandible than the Common Cuckoos I have seen in photos?

It will really interesting to get some input on this….it will also help me to ID my bird. I was not able to get a photo of the tail (grrrr!!) …my bird has less yellow on the lower mandible than Jock’s ….the upper mandible also does not have yellow base and the nostrils are in the black area….the eye has a yellow iris. To keep this thread on topic for the Red-chested Cuckoo, I will rather ask for help on my ID in the ID thread, but suppose the discussion of Jock’s bird will be ok in here?