Encounter - Pied Crested Cuckoo or Jacobin Cuckoo [The Green Ogre]

The arrival of the Jacobin Cuckoo or Pied Crested Cuckoo is believed to announce that the monsoon is here

A Jacobin Cuckoo/ Pied Crested Cuckoo photographed near Mysore

The Pied Crested Cuckoo or Jacobin Cuckoo is a beautiful bird which visits India in the winter from Africa. I have been sighting this bird continuously for the past three years in and around Mysore, and the timing of its arrival has been impeccable — right at the onset of the monsoon. This time the first sighting was a couple of days before the exact date of the arrival of the monsoon.

I remember having seen it three years back on the outskirts of Mysore. I had barely begun birding at that time, and I was struck dumb by its stunning and unique appearance. The black-and-white body and the distinct crest were nothing short of stunning for me. It was really close to me and by the time I fumbled with my camera and got a couple of shots off, the bird had flown away. And both shots ended up blurred.

Last year we saw a pair again in the same vicinity and one of them got really close for photography. This year, I have sighted at least 20 Jacobin Cuckoos, in various parts, though my luck with photography was considerably less. But I got an opportunity to see one feeding on a caterpillar and got a record shot!

Text and Photos: Sandeep Somasekharan

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Sandy

Sandeep Somasekharan (or Sandy as friends call him) took his headlong plunge into photography with a three-megapixel Nikon point-and-shoot he purchased in 2003. The avid reader and an occasional scribbler started enjoying travel and nature more as he spent more time photographing. Meeting Beej in 2008 helped him channel his creative energies in the form of essays and nature photographs that he started publishing on the Green Ogre. Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation.

He is an engineer by education, IT professional by vocation, and a hopeless dreamer since creation.

Author

Sandy

Sandeep Somasekharan (or Sandy as friends call him) took his headlong plunge into photography with a three-megapixel Nikon point-and-shoot he purchased in 2003. The avid reader and an occasional scribbler started enjoying travel and nature more as he spent more time photographing. Meeting Beej in 2008 helped him channel his creative energies in the form of essays and nature photographs that he started publishing on the Green Ogre. Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation. He is an engineer by education, IT professional by vocation, and a hopeless dreamer since creation.
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