🪐 View in 3D Galaxy 📏 View on 3D Scale Stage

🧬 Biological Classification (Kingdom to Species)Cuculus poliocephalus

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Cuculiformes

Family

Cuculidae

Genus

Cuculus

Species

Cuculus poliocephalus

Aves❔ Diet unknown

Lesser Cuckoo

Cuculus poliocephalus (Lesser Cuckoo · ホトトギス)

🛡️ Conservation Status (IUCN Red List)LC (Least Concern)

DDData Deficient

LCLeast Concern

NTNear Threatened

VUVulnerable

ENEndangered

CRCritically End.

EWExtinct in Wild

EXExtinct

🇰🇷 Natural Monument (Korea) «Lesser Cuckoo»

Geological Era

Extant

Diet

No data

Length · Height

24~28cm · No data

Mass · Top Speed

54~74g · No data

Habitat & Fossil Locality

Lowland woods and dense forests (breeds in East Asia; winters in Southeast Asia)

💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed

💡 Appearing in works such as Kim Si-seup's poem 'Buryeogwi' and King Danjong's 'Jagyusi,' it is the bird most frequently mentioned in classical Chinese and old Korean poetry, and many people still confuse it with Sojjeoksae (a Korean animal name) (Korea Heritage Service).
💡 Its mass of 54–74 g is similar to one chicken egg (about 60 g) (Comparison).

Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.

📊 Mass & Speed Index (0–100)

⚖️ Mass Index (Blue Whale ~190 t = 100, log scale)21

Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.

#두견이#Cuculus poliocephalus

📖 1. Overview

The lesser cuckoo is a cuckoo species 24–28 cm long—smaller than the common cuckoo—that breeds in eastern Asia, northeastern China, and Japan and winters in Southeast Asia. In Korea, it visits lowland forests nationwide as a rare summer visitor.

🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology

Males are slaty grey on the head, hindneck, and back, with sparse blackish-brown crossbars on a white lower breast and belly. It resembles the common cuckoo, but its barring is bolder.

🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior

Rather than building its own nest, it lays one egg at a time in the nests of other birds such as Hwiparamsae (a Korean animal name) for them to raise. Its laying season runs from early June (month 6) to late August (month 8).

🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea

It was designated a Natural Monument (Korea) on March 17, 2005 (2005-03-17) because it has suffered the steepest decline among cuckoo species visiting Korea.