Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Clamator coromandus (Sewah Berjambul Sayab Merah)

A distinctive, long-tailed cuckoo with a peaked black crest like a witch's hat, bright orange throat, rusty wings, a black back, and white nape and belly. Forages and sings high in dense canopy; seldom seen well enough for all these traits to be seen at once. Varied vocalizations are harsh, raspy, or metallic sounding and include high-pitched “veep-veep” notes, a strident “kooree”, and a maniacal rattling cackle.

(eBird)

"Seeing into darkness is clarity ...."

Sunda Brush Cuckoo

 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cacomantis sepulcralis (Mantinak Dada Jingga Biasa)

A medium-sized cuckoo, with a warm buff colored throat, chest, and belly. Gray eyering and heavily barred tail. Some females are quite different, a rich reddish brown with heavy black barring. Similar Plaintive Cuckoo is generally paler, with a contrasting gray hood. Most frequently encountered by its incessantly given song, an even series of high-pitched clear whistles that are slightly upslurred.

Love begins with the eyes, stays with the heart.

Plaintive Cuckoo

 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cacomantis merulinus (Sewah Perut Jingga)

A small and slender cuckoo, far more often heard than seen; the male's accelerating song, which decreases in volume as it progresses, is composed of a few whistled long notes followed by shorter, breathy notes. Adult male and typical (non-hepatic) female show orange belly, gray head, and brown back and tail. Hepatic, or rufous-morph, individuals are rusty brown above and white below, with black barring all over the body. Inhabits open woodlands, edges, and agricultural areas.

(eBird)

Each encounter may be a familiarity but see, and there arises one's amazement with creation.

Sunda Brush Cuckoo

 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cacomantis sepulcralis (Mantinak Dada Jingga Biasa)

A medium-sized cuckoo, with a warm buff colored throat, chest, and belly. Gray eyering and heavily barred tail. Some females are quite different, a rich reddish brown with heavy black barring. Similar Plaintive Cuckoo is generally paler, with a contrasting gray hood. Most frequently encountered by its incessantly given song, an even series of high-pitched clear whistles that are slightly upslurred.

We see differently, and we fear differently, all the more sorrowful.

Sunda Cuckoo

Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cuculus lepidus (Sewah Gunung Melayu)

Typical Cuculus cuckoo: most adults are gray with black stripes on a white breast and belly, but some females are “hepatic”; they appear rufous overall with extensive barring. Virtually identical to Himalayan and Oriental cuckoos, which migrate through and winter in Sunda’s range; look for Sunda’s more contrasting darker gray upperparts, wider bars on the underparts, and buffier unmarked vent. Juvenile is dark grayish black above with white edging to the feathers. Like most cuckoos, more often heard than seen; listen for its 2–3 note hooting song, which averages higher than that of Oriental. A species of montane and foothill forest.

More heard than seen

typical, similar

words that strike

yet uncommon.

Flash after flash

patience tested

by avian, by human

patience won

as Patience stays true.

Plaintive Cuckoo

Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cacomantis merulinus (Sewah Perut Jingga)

A small and slender cuckoo, far more often heard than seen; the male's accelerating song, which decreases in volume as it progresses, is composed of a few whistled long notes followed by shorter, breathy notes. Adult male and typical (non-hepatic) female show orange belly, gray head, and brown back and tail. Hepatic, or rufous-morph, individuals are rusty brown above and white below, with black barring all over the body. Inhabits open woodlands, edges, and agricultural areas.

Unmistakable if heard, maybe mistakable if of another angle.

 

* Of the mysterious the function - moving forward without moving, the compassionate wins *

- adapt to situation -

Violet Cuckoo

Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus (Sewah-Zamrud Ungu)

Small, sluggish cuckoo, more often heard than seen; listen for the male’s explosive descending trills and a loud but unremarkable “chom-wit!”, often given in flight. Adult male glossy purple with white-barred belly. Female greenish-brown above with curvier, paler barring extending up to the face; juvenile similar but with stronger rufous tones to the wings and orangish crown. Female and juvenile similar to female Asian Emerald Cuckoo or Little Bronze Cuckoo; look for combination of orange bill and patchy iridescent green instead of the Emerald’s unbroken sheen or Little Bronze’s dark bill and duller sheen.

(eBird)

Having is not for one, sharing comes naturally

Heed what's instinctive

* Mind the insignificant - leave alone what's natural, act only when natural *

- avoid the unnatural in behaviour -

Indian Cuckoo

Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cuculus micropterus (Sewah India)

Sleek and slender gray-and-white cuckoo. Loud, far-carrying song is unique: four hooting notes, often likened to “onemore-boh-tul!” or “crossword-puh-zuhl.” Adult is similar in size and coloration to Oriental, Himalayan, and Common Cuckoos, but note dark eyes and darker back and wings. Juvenile patchy-looking, often showing a whitish crown and collar and white edging to the wing feathers. Favors forests, forest edges, and parklands. Lays its eggs in the nests of a wide range of birds, including magpies, shrikes, and drongos.

(eBird)

 

Silent or vocal, a prize in waiting.

* Simplicity in habit - born of non-interference, non-imposition, non-desire *

- act neutral, allow things to run its course -

Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo

Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Surniculus lugubris (Sewah-sawai Biasa)

A small, slim black cuckoo rather similar to Black Drongo but smaller, with a curved bill. Adult black with white bars in the undertail, shorter-tailed juvenile deep blackish gray with bright white dots in wings and flanks. Rather sedentary and difficult to see in tangled vegetation of scrubby and edge habitats in lowland and foothill forests. Song a loud, vibrant, rapid series of ascending hoarse whistles.

(eBird)

All at par yet there is oversight in familiarity.

 

* To gain insight - Tao offers the way, why use by-paths *

- understand what's primary, what's secondary -