From the archive record
Greater Coucal with its smart black attire, rufous wing and ruby red eye, seen at Wilderness Orchard in the New Delhi spring, with Californian Poppies in flower and a breeding season bird call round from a male Magpie Robin. Sitting in the monsoon hot humid sun, a Coucal dries its body and chest, jutting its chest forward to dry itself after a foray into a pond, in trying to get a frog. An opportunistic feeder with a ruby red eye, the Crow Pheasant will eat carrion, kill rats and steal birds' eggs and chicks, as also catch lizards and other reptiles. This Coucal hops along in an injured fashion on our lawn, looking for morsels. A vision in rufous and black: Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant is really a Cuckoo, as seen at Wilderness Orchard A Lesser Coucal or Crow-Pheasant stalks among old wi