The Early Bird...
The common hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)
Common hawk-cuckoos feed mainly on insects and are specialized feeders that can handle hairy caterpillars. Caterpillar guts often contain toxins and like many cuckoos they remove the guts by pressing the caterpillar and rubbing it on a branch before swallowing it. The hair are swallowed with the caterpillar and are separated in the stomach and regurgitated as a pellet.
The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoo and like many other cuckoos these are brood parasites, laying their eggs in nests of babblers.
The Early Bird...
The common hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)
Common hawk-cuckoos feed mainly on insects and are specialized feeders that can handle hairy caterpillars. Caterpillar guts often contain toxins and like many cuckoos they remove the guts by pressing the caterpillar and rubbing it on a branch before swallowing it. The hair are swallowed with the caterpillar and are separated in the stomach and regurgitated as a pellet.
The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoo and like many other cuckoos these are brood parasites, laying their eggs in nests of babblers.