Sulawesi Cuckoo

The Sulawesi cuckoo is an island-endemic Cuculus about 34 cm long. It is also called the Sulawesi hawk-cuckoo, although taxonomic accounts note that it is not closely related to the other birds traditionally called hawk-cuckoos. Its heavy-looking bill contributes to the scientific name crassirostris. The sources opened provide recordings but little dependable plumage description, so visual details have not been reconstructed from photographs or borrowed from related cuckoos (Wikipedia and BirdForum general species accounts).

This resident cuckoo occupies primary forest in Sulawesi’s mountains, with published summaries placing it at roughly 500–1,400 m. Its recorded food is insects, including termites. BirdForum reports no established breeding information, which is important because brood-parasitic behaviour cannot simply be assumed from another Cuculus species without a host record. The combination of mountain habitat, restricted island range and voice is therefore more useful for field detection than unsupported assumptions about nesting or seasonal movement (BirdForum Opus, citing Handbook of the Birds of the World).