Plaintive cuckoo
Cacomantis merulinus (Scopoli, 1786)
The plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh 24.8 g to 25.3 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the plaintive cuckoo
- Weight
- 24.8 g – 25.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc 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
Where does the plaintive cuckoo live?
Not recorded
What is the plaintive cuckoo?
The plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) is a species of bird belonging to the genus Cacomantis in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is native to Asia, from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia.
From the Wikipedia article “Plaintive cuckoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plaintive_cuckoo&oldid=1354286565), 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 plaintive cuckoo endangered?
The plaintive 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.
How is the plaintive cuckoo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusCacomantis
- SpeciesCacomantis merulinus (Scopoli, 1786)
Synonyms Cacomantis flavus, Cuculus flavus, Cuculus merulinus, Cuculus pyrogaster
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- وقواق حزينArabic
- cucut ploranerCatalan
- kukačka naříkaváCzech
- cog alarusWelsh
- Rødbuget GøgDanish
- KlagekuckuckGerman
- plendema veprokukoloEsperanto
- Cuco plañideroSpanish
- väike-tüüdukäguEstonian
- valittajakäkiFinnish
- Coucou plaintifFrench
- Cuach chaointeachIrish
- žalobna kukavicaCroatian
- Wiwik kelabuIndonesian
- Cuculo lamentosoItalian
- ヒメカッコウJapanese
- 우는뻐꾸기Korean
- pilkakrūtė šeriuotoji gegutėLithuanian
- Piet-van-VlietDutch
- klagegjøkNorwegian
- kukułka siwogardłaPolish
- cuco-lamuriosoPortuguese
- Cuco-de-barriga-cinzentaPortuguese
- cuco-melancólicoPortuguese
- Плачущая кукушкаRussian
- Серогрудая щетинистая кукушкаRussian
- kukučka nariekaváSlovak
- Riđotrba kukavicaSerbian
- sorgbuskgökSwedish
- นกอีวาบตั๊กแตนThai
- kiruheFilipino
- Dertli GugukTurkish
- Ağlayan gugukTurkish
- кукавка сіроволаUkrainian
- 八声杜鹃Chinese
- 八聲杜鵑Chinese
Relatives of the plaintive cuckoo
Other species in the same genus Cacomantis.
Banded bay cuckoo
Cacomantis sonneratii
Fan-tailed cuckoo
Cacomantis flabelliformis
Chestnut-breasted cuckoo
Cacomantis castaneiventris
Grey-bellied cuckoo
Cacomantis passerinus
Sahul brush cuckoo
Cacomantis variolosus
Sunda brush cuckoo
Cacomantis sepulcralis
ComparePlaintive cuckoo vs Banded bay cuckooPlaintive cuckoo vs Fan-tailed cuckooPlaintive cuckoo vs Chestnut-breasted cuckooPlaintive cuckoo vs Grey-bellied cuckoo
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the plaintive cuckoo?
An adult plaintive cuckoo weighs 24.8 g – 25.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the plaintive cuckoo endangered?
The plaintive 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 plaintive cuckoo?
The plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) 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). Plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/plaintive-cuckoo
“Plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/plaintive-cuckoo.
@misc{plaintive_cuckoo_2026,
title = {Plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/plaintive-cuckoo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}