Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)

OTHER NAMES: N/A

Latin Etymology: Clamator ("shouter") glandarius ("of acorns")

                                                     Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) at Side, Antalya, Turkey - March 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 140-170g  /  Length: 35-39cm  /  Wingspan: 58-60cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Great Spotted Cuckoo is like it's more familiar relative, a brood parasite, although the range of this species is much more restricted.  In Europe the majority of it's range is in Spain, Portugal and Turkey, though it also has some small population in a few other countries.  As with the Common Cuckoo, it Winters in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is apparently fairly tricky to see though; there is a fairly limited window between the time it arrives and then heads up into the mountains to feed. 

Related Species:
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Clamator
Subspecies: none - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

SPAIN - Spanish - Críalo

Scarce and Local Summer Migrant

 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: Two seen briefly from moving car at Oropesa 

TURKEY  -   Turkish: Tepeli guguk ("Crested Cuckoo")
 - ANTALYA 2025 TRIP - One near Side.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto