Great spotted cuckoo

Introduction: Great-spotted cuckoos (Clamator glandarius) inhabit dry, open savannah woodlands in particular Acacia and scattered thickets and trees with grassland. Glandarius is a Latin word and is derived from glandula or glandium which means acorn. It refers to the acorn eating and collection traits of the Acorn Jay (Garrulus glandarius) as well as the jay-like behaviour of the great-spotted cuckoo.

Distribution: Throughout northern and central Namibia including Windhoek, Etosha National Park, Rundu and the Caprivi. Absent from the Namib Desert.

Diet: Hairy caterpillars, ants, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and dragonflies.

Description: Medium to large crested cuckoos with long, graduated tails, sturdy feet and legs and feet and a characteristic loud and chattering voice. Clamator is the Latin word for noisy, which refers to their loud, chattering cries. Jacobinus is Latin and is derived from Jacobin, a French Dominican friar. Their pied plumage resembled the traditional habit of these friars.

Breeding: Lays eggs in mainly starling species and pied crow with up 6 eggs in a single clutch with an incubation period of around 14 days.

Size: 40cm.

Weight: 170g.