CreatureData

Northern hawk-cuckoo

Hierococcyx hyperythrus (Gould, 1856)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh 79.7 g to 120 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus)
Photo: John Gould / Henry Constantine Richter · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the northern hawk-cuckoo

Weight
79.7 g – 120 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the northern hawk-cuckoo

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus)
Alpsdake · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the northern hawk-cuckoo live?

Not recorded

What is the northern hawk-cuckoo?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The northern hawk-cuckoo or rufous hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus) is a species of cuckoo found in eastern China, North and South Korea, far eastern Russia, and Japan. Northern populations migrate to overwinter in Borneo. This elusive species is considered rare over most of its range and many of its life history traits remain understudied. It is known to perch in the crowns of tall trees, making direct observation difficult.

The northern hawk-cuckoo, along with the Malaysian hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx fugax) and the Hodgson’s hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx nisicolor), were all once considered the same species, H. fugax. All three were recently split into their own monotypic species.

The genus Hierococcyx are called hawk-cuckoos due to their broad, rounded wings and plumage which lend them great resemblance to Japanese and Chinese sparrowhawks. They are similar enough that in the field hawk-cuckoos are often mistaken for an Accipiter.

From the Wikipedia article “Northern hawk-cuckoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_hawk-cuckoo&oldid=1383490535), 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 northern hawk-cuckoo endangered?

The northern hawk-cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 northern hawk-cuckoo classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCuculiformes
  5. familyCuculidae
  6. genusHierococcyx
  7. SpeciesHierococcyx hyperythrus (Gould, 1856)

Synonyms Cuculus fugax hyperythrus, Cuculus hyperythrus, Cuculus nisicolor hyperythrus, Hierococcys fugax hyperythrus, Hierococcyx fugax hyperythrus

Other names and names in other languages (39)
  • Northern hawk cuckooEnglish
  • Northern hawk cuckooEnglish
  • Northern hawk cuckooEnglish
  • Rufous hawk-cuckooEnglish
  • Rufous hawk-cuckooEnglish
  • وقواق الباز الشماليArabic
  • cucut de la XinaCatalan
  • kukačka východníCzech
  • kukačka východoasijskáCzech
  • Hvidnakket HøgegøgDanish
  • WeißnackenkuckuckGerman
  • Rostbauch-FluchtkuckuckGerman
  • RostbauchfluchtkuckuckGerman
  • rufa akcipitrokukoloEsperanto
  • Cuco ventrirrojoSpanish
  • hiina haugaskäguEstonian
  • itäkiinankäkiFinnish
  • Coucou de ChineFrench
  • cimetastoprsa kukavicaCroatian
  • Cuculastore settentrionaleItalian
  • ジュウイチJapanese
  • キタジュウイチJapanese
  • 매사촌Korean
  • Šiaurinė vanaginė gegutėLithuanian
  • ziemeļu vanagzdeguzeLatvian
  • Chinese SperwerkoekoekDutch
  • hvitnakkegjøkNorwegian
  • kukułka amurskaPolish
  • cuco-falcão-ruivoPortuguese
  • cuco-gavião-ruivoPortuguese
  • Ширококрылая кукушкаRussian
  • kukučka amurskáSlovak
  • Severna jastrebasta kukavicaSerbian
  • nordlig hökgökSwedish
  • นกคัคคูเหยี่ยวพันธุ์เหนือThai
  • Kuzeyli Atmaca GuguğuTurkish
  • зозуля рудоволаUkrainian
  • 北方鷹鵑Chinese
  • 北棕腹鹰鹃Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the northern hawk-cuckoo

Other species in the same genus Hierococcyx.

CompareNorthern hawk-cuckoo vs Common hawk-cuckooNorthern hawk-cuckoo vs Large hawk-cuckooNorthern hawk-cuckoo vs Malayan hawk-cuckooNorthern hawk-cuckoo vs Moustached hawk-cuckoo

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the northern hawk-cuckoo?

An adult northern hawk-cuckoo weighs 79.7 g – 120 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the northern hawk-cuckoo endangered?

The northern hawk-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 northern hawk-cuckoo?

The northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-hawk-cuckoo

MLA

“Northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-hawk-cuckoo.

BibTeX
@misc{northern_hawk_cuckoo_2026,
  title = {Northern hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx hyperythrus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-hawk-cuckoo},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}