Himalayan Cuckoo

Cuculus saturatus

The Himalayan cuckoo (Cuculus saturatus) is a species of cuckoo in the genus Cuculus. It breeds from the Himalayas eastward to southern China and Taiwan. It migrates to southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands for the winter.

It was formerly known as "Oriental cuckoo" and contained several subspecies found over most of Asia. In 2005, it was determined that this "species" consists of three distinct lineages:

Himalayan cuckoo, Cuculus (saturatus) saturatus

Oriental cuckoo proper, Cuculus (saturatus) optatus

Sunda cuckoo, Cuculus (saturatus) lepidusThese are usually seen as distinct species nowadays. As the type specimen of the former "Oriental" cuckoo is a bird of the Himalayan population, the name saturatus applies to the Himalayan cuckoo if it is considered a species.