Globe › Birds › Oriental cuckoo
Oriental cuckoo migration Cuculus optatus
▶ Follow the oriental cuckoo across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Cuculus optatus |
|---|---|
| Adult weight | 99 g (male), 90 g (female) |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 29,734 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q1266506 (CC0).
Migration in the data
29,734 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In East Asia and Australasia, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 46°N) and furthest south in December (about 14°S).
More than half of the effort-adjusted signal there is south of the Equator in: January, February, March, October, November, December.
Month by month: centre of records in East Asia and Australasia
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 11°S | 97% |
| February | 11°S | 96% |
| March | 7°S | 80% |
| April | 24°N | 14% |
| May | 40°N | 0% |
| June | 45°N | 0% |
| July | 46°N | 0% |
| August | 39°N | 0% |
| September | 21°N | 17% |
| October | 4°N | 63% |
| November | 10°S | 96% |
| December | 14°S | 100% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the oriental cuckoo
The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfield's cuckoo is a bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo, with the name 'Oriental cuckoo' used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that it should be treated as a separate species. …
From the Wikipedia article “Oriental cuckoo” (revision 1379734355), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=5231898&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.