Name

Clamator glandarius

Great spotted cuckoo

Framing

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Aves

Order: Cuculiformes

Genus: Clamator

Species: glandarius

Habitat

Mediterranean countryside with groups of trees (pine forests, almond groves, dehesas).

Feeding

Free. Solitary. Insectivore, specialized in the consumption of lepidopteran larvae, especially pine processionary larvae.

Distribution

Africa and the Mediterranean strip. In the Iberian Peninsula it is absent from the Cantabrian coast.

Conservation status

Not threatened

Additional information

Medium-sized bird (38 cm) with very long tail, short zygodactyl legs, dark back mottled with white, dark hood (young) or silver (adults) rising in a short crest and light ventral parts, tinged with yellow or cream on the throat. Very noisy, they are often seen in noisy chases in which they emit shrill cries or attacked by magpies that are their main hosts (it is a brood parasite). Trans-Saharan summer migrant.