Editing Jacobin cuckoo (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==

In the breeding season, birds call from prominent perches and chase each other with slow wing-beats and pigeon like clapping flight. [[Courtship feeding]] has been observed in Africa.<ref name=payne/> The species is a brood parasite and in India the host is mainly species of babblers in the genus ''[[Turdoides]]''. The colour of the eggs matches those of the host, typically turquoise blue. The eggs are slightly larger than those of the common babbler (''T. caudatus'') or the [[jungle babbler]] (''T. striata''). Other hosts include the [[red-vented bulbul]], and the eggs laid are then mostly white.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Osmaston, BB|year=1916|title= The Pied Crested Cuckoo ''Coccystes jacobinus''.|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume= 24|issue=4|pages=821–822|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30152432}}</ref> Eggs are laid hurriedly in the morning into the nest of the host often dropped from above while the bird perches on the rim of the nest and over the host eggs often resulting in the cracking of one or more host eggs.<ref name=gaston/> In Africa, the males distract the host while the female lays the egg.<ref name=payne/> Multiple eggs may be laid in the nest of a host and two young cuckoos were found to fledge successfully in several occasions.<ref name=gaston/> In Africa, the hosts include ''[[Pycnonotus barbatus]]'', ''[[Pycnonotus capensis|P. capensis]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|author=Krüger, O|year=2004|title=Breeding biology of the Cape bulbul Pycnonotus capensis: a 40 year comparison.|journal=Ostrich|volume=75|issue=4|pages=211–216|url=http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/BBE/Kruger/PDFs/Ostrich_75_211_216.pdf|doi=10.2989/00306520409485447|bibcode=2004Ostri..75..211K |s2cid=86524534|access-date=2009-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824115858/http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/BBE/Kruger/PDFs/Ostrich_75_211_216.pdf|archive-date=2007-08-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Turdoides fulvus]]'', ''[[Turdoides rubiginosus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|author=Huels, TR|year=1982 |title=Co-operative feeding of conspecific and ''Clamator jacobinus'' young by ''Turdoides rubiginosus''. |journal=Scopus |volume=6|pages=33–35}}</ref> ''[[Lanius collaris]]'', ''[[Andropadus importunus]]'', ''[[Terpsiphone viridis]]'', ''[[Dicrurus adsimilis]]''<ref>{{cite journal|author=Skead CJ |year=1962|title=Jacobin crested cuckoo ''Clamator jacobinus'' (Boddaert) parasitising the fork-tailed drongo ''Dicrurus adsimilis'' (Beckstein).|journal= Ostrich |volume=33|issue=2 |pages=72–3|doi=10.1080/00306525.1962.9633437}}</ref> and a few other species.<ref name=payne/><ref name=hbk/><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/smithsonianmisce146196364smit#page/n164/mode/1up|title=Evolutionary trends in the genus ''Clamator''|author=Friedmann, H| year= 1964| journal=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections|volume=164| issue=4|pages=1–106}}</ref> Babblers in the genus ''Turdoides'' are communal breeders and cuckoo chick are raised by several members of the group. A pied cuckoo chick was observed to be fed by four [[jungle babbler]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | title=On the parasitic habits of the Pied Crested Cuckoo | author=Bates, R.S.P. | journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume=40 | issue=1 | pages=125 | year=1938|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47602399}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Communal nest-feeding in Babbler | author=Bates, R.S.P. | journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume=56 | issue=3 | pages=630–631| year=1959|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47375572}}</ref>

The skin of young birds darkens form pink to purplish brown within two days of hatching. The mouth linking is red with yellow [[gape]] flanges. Unlike some cuckoos, nestlings do not evict the eggs of the host from the nest although they claim most of the parental attention and food resulting sometimes, in the starvation of host nestlings.<ref name=payne/>

These cuckoos feed on insects including hairy caterpillars that are picked up from near or on the ground. Caterpillars are pressed from end to end to remove the guts before they are swallowed. They sometimes feed on fruits.<ref name=gaston/>

Jacobin cuckoos are occasionally targeted as prey by the [[Eurasian sparrowhawk|sparrowhawk]] (''Accipiter nisus''), which has been recorded attacking the significantly larger cuckoo by forcing it to the ground with its talons, then ripping away with its hooked beak.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://roaring.earth/sparrowhawk-vs-cuckoo/|title=Battle of the Birds: Hawk Tries to Kill Cuckoo|date=2019-12-01|website=Roaring Earth|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latestsightings.com/single-post/2017/03/07/Hawk-Tries-to-Kill-Cuckoo-Bird|title=Hawk Tries to Kill Cuckoo Bird|website=latest-sightings|date=7 March 2017 |language=en|access-date=2020-04-01}}</ref>