PHILIPPINE HAWK-CUCKOO
Cuculus pectoralis
Family Cuclidae

Bird #99 - January 2009

This bird is a Philippine endemic. It is a split from the Hodgson’s Hawk-Cuckoo Cuculus fugax. It is a large bird, about 11 1/2 inches long and uncommon.

We saw this bird many times before we were able to take a photo of it. We saw it in Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon, Mt. Palay-palay in Cavite, and Mt. Makiling in Los Baños.

It has a loud rising call that sounds like it is angry.

 Surprisingly, we were finally able to take a photo of it in a residential subdivision in Quezon City! We invited ourselves to the house of fellow PBPF member JV Noriega after he posted a photo and video of this bird. When we got there, he brought us to the tree where the bird is usually found .. and it really was there! It stayed in the tree for one hour, allowing us to approach quite closely and take our fill of pictures before it finally flew away.