A 'cuckoo' reckoning

 In view that questions are still raised over the identity of the Himalayan Cuckoo (Cuculus saturatus) vs the Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus), I've tried to collate the different views given by senior birders todate in favour of the former:

- longer, straighter neck, and longer tail
- absence of wide white bands on under-tail vs dark black band near tail end as present in the latter
- greyish head and upper-part vs greyish head with more contrasting upper-part with brownish tinge including wings and tail in the latter

and from other sources like ebird.org:

- gray above
- dark gray tail
- buffy (not white) under-tail feathers

It is fortunate that the Himalayan Cuckoo has found it quite conducive to spend more than a couple of days here and this has afforded more opportunities for varied profile images:

Straight neck with overall greyish head, upper-part and darker grey tail, absence of wide white bands on under-tail, and buffy under-tail feathers.

And best of all,  there have been occasions for some lovely shots of this cuckoo (though some non-birding contacts have asked what's attractive about this bird?!)

A typical behaviour observed of this cuckoo is that it forages easily and commonly on the ground too.

... and taking flight, providing underwing and belly images.

and what's not adorable about this bird??!!

Manoeuvering, ie literally taking small steps on the branch to turn around instead of hopping... cute

Eye-contact ... always heartwarming moment.

And so far this cuckoo has proven to be rather obliging despite being pursued by photographers round the taman, displaying a dignified command by continuing to forage and ingest its find nonchalantly as and when it sees fit despite the numerous lenses zooming in on it.

This cuckoo sighting will certainly be another avian record for the taman as it's only the second location to date that this cuckoo has been sighted in the country during this migratory season.