• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Recent mtDNA study suggests that present species is closest to C. canorus, the two being a sister-clade to C. gularis and C. rochii (Payne 2005). In 2014 Cuculus saturatus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) incorporated C. optatus following the suggestion they were vocally indistinguishable, however the previous treatment, with both separated as species, is here reinstated after Xia et al. (2016) demonstrated that they are vocally distinct.

An earlier concept (recognised prior to 2006) treated C. saturatus (with optatus/horsfieldi: see note under C. optatus) as conspecific with C. lepidus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993). Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.
Payne, R. B. 2005. The cuckoos. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2014	Not Recognised
2013	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2007	Least Concern
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	7,610,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	10,300,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2011-2022
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.71 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but is thought to be large as the species is described as 'common and widespread' in at least parts of its range (Payne 2005).

Trend justification: Remote sensing data on tree cover loss indicate that approximately 13% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost from the species's non-breeding range, and approximately 5% from the breeding range, over the past three generations (11 years; Global Forest Watch 2021). These figures may underestimate the true rate of forest loss, especially in the non-breeding range, as the tree cover data may include plantations. However, the species has has been recorded in some types of plantation and in gardens during the non-breeding season (Payne and Kirwan 2020). The species's population size is therefore suspected to be declining at a rate of less than 20% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native		yes		yes
Bhutan	extant	native		yes
Cambodia	extant	native				yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes		yes
India	extant	native		yes
Indonesia	extant	native			yes	yes
Laos	extant	native		yes		yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes	yes
Myanmar	extant	native		yes		yes
Nepal	extant	native		yes
Pakistan	extant	native		yes
Philippines	extant	native			yes
Thailand	extant	native			yes	yes
Vietnam	extant	native		yes		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 4500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national, international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Himalayan Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/himalayan-cuckoo-cuculus-saturatus on 04/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 04/12/2024.