What to Know Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda?

The Red-Chested Cuckoo in Uganda is one of the African birds of Uganda seen during Uganda birding safaris & Tours. It is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is a medium-sized bird found in Africa south of the Sahara.

In Afrikaans, it is known as “Piet-my-vrou”, after its call. These cuckoos can be seen in Murchison falls national parkin Uganda.

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Look Like?

The red-chested cuckoo is a medium-size cuckoo about 31 cm in length. The male has slate-grey upper parts, pale grey throat and sides of head and dark grey tail tipped with white.

The breast is rufous or cinnamon, often with barring, and the belly is creamy-white or pale buff. The female is similar but the color of the breast is duller and with variable amounts of barring.

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Sing and Make Calls?

In Africa, this cuckoo is named after its distinctive 3-note call “Piet-my-vrou.” This solitary cuckoo is highly vocal

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Feed?

Feeds mainly on invertebrates, especially hairy caterpillars and other insects, doing most of its foraging in the tree canopy. It occasionally goes down to the lower branches to pick up a scrap of food.

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Nest?

The red-chested cuckoo is a brood parasite and it conquers nests of other birds.

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Breed?

The Red-chested Cuckoo is bigamous, which means it takes on more than a single mate

How Does Red-chested Cuckoo in Uganda Reproduce?

Their eggs are dark brown and laid in the nest of another bird – its favorite breeding host being the robin. The surrogate family then raises the young.

The cuckoo eggs are much bigger than the robins. The Red-chested Cuckoo does not remove the robin eggs, but the cuckoos usually hatch about 3 or 4 days earlier than the chicks of the hosts.

Then the young cuckoo chicks tip the robin chicks out when they hatch.