Great spotted cuckoo
Clamator glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758)
The great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh 133.2 g to 169 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the great spotted cuckoo
- Weight
- 133.2 g – 169 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.8src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the great spotted cuckoo live?
Not recorded
What is the great spotted cuckoo?
The great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.
It is widely spread throughout Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. It is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of corvids, in particular the Eurasian magpie.
From the Wikipedia article “Great spotted cuckoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_spotted_cuckoo&oldid=1367893919), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the great spotted cuckoo endangered?
The great spotted cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the great spotted cuckoo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusClamator
- SpeciesClamator glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Clamator glandarius cherigium, Clamator glandarius glandarius, Cuculus glandarius, Cuculus macrourus, Cuculus phaiopterus, Cuculus pisanus, Oxylophus minor
Other names and names in other languages (62)
- GSCUEnglish
- Gevlekte KoekoekAfrikaans
- وقواق أرقطArabic
- وقواق ارقط كبيرArabic
- وقواق مرقط كبيرArabic
- Cuculo fillardoAragonese
- cuquiellu realAsturian
- Качулата кукувицаBulgarian
- Koukoug safarusBreton
- Cucut reialCatalan
- cucut reial europeuCatalan
- kukačka chocholatáCzech
- Cog FrechWelsh
- Cogau BrychWelsh
- SkadegøgDanish
- HäherkuckuckGerman
- ΚισσόκουκοςGreek
- tufkukoloEsperanto
- CríaloSpanish
- Críalo europeoSpanish
- harakkäguEstonian
- Kuku mottodunBasque
- کوکوی خالدارPersian
- harakkakäkiFinnish
- Töyhtökäki/HarakkakäkiFinnish
- SkjórugeykurFaroese
- OxylopheFrench
- Coucou geaiFrench
- Coucou-geaiFrench
- Oxylophe geaiFrench
- Oxylophe-geaiFrench
- Mórchuach bhreacIrish
- Cuco realGalician
- Cooag vreckManx
- קוקיה מצויצתHebrew
- קוקייה מצויצתHebrew
- afrička kukavicaCroatian
- szajkókakukkHungarian
- pettyes kakukkHungarian
- Կկու փուլփուլավորArmenian
- DílagaukurIcelandic
- Cuculo dal ciuffoItalian
- マダラカンムリカッコウJapanese
- didžioji kuoduotoji gegutėLithuanian
- lielā cekuldzeguzeLatvian
- цуцулеста кукавицаMacedonian
- KuifkoekoekDutch
- skjorgaukNorwegian Nynorsk
- skjæregjøkNorwegian
- kukułka czubataPolish
- cuco-rabilongoPortuguese
- Хохлатая кукушкаRussian
- SkiregiehkaNorthern Sami
- kukavica chochlatáSlovak
- čopasta kukavicaSlovenian
- Ćubasta kukavicaSerbian
- skatgökSwedish
- Tepeli GugukTurkish
- зозуля чубатаUkrainian
- Khát nước lớnVietnamese
- 大鳳頭鵑Chinese
- 大斑凤头鹃Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the great spotted cuckoo
Other species in the same genus Clamator.

Jacobin cuckoo
Clamator jacobinus

Chestnut-winged cuckoo
Clamator coromandus

Levaillant's cuckoo
Clamator levaillantii
CompareGreat spotted cuckoo vs Jacobin cuckooGreat spotted cuckoo vs Chestnut-winged cuckooGreat spotted cuckoo vs Levaillant's cuckoo
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the great spotted cuckoo?
An adult great spotted cuckoo weighs 133.2 g – 169 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the great spotted cuckoo endangered?
The great spotted cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the great spotted cuckoo?
The great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) belongs to the family Cuculidae in the order Cuculiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-spotted-cuckoo
“Great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-spotted-cuckoo.
@misc{great_spotted_cuckoo_2026,
title = {Great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-spotted-cuckoo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}