---
title: "Indische sperwerkoekoek"
description: "Hierococcyx varius — Vogels. The common hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius), popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/common-hawk-cuckoo
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Indische sperwerkoekoek

> Hierococcyx varius — Vogels. The common hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius), popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent.

- Scientific name: *Hierococcyx varius*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos)
- iNaturalist observations: 2350
- Wikidata: [Q221928](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q221928)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144575](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144575)

## Names

- en: Common Hawk-Cuckoo
- de: Wechselkuckuck
- es: Cuco Chikra
- fr: Coucou shikra
- nl: Indische sperwerkoekoek
- pl: Kukułka rudopręga

## Countries with the most observations

IN (1631), BD (37), LK (37), NP (23)

## Summary

The common hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius), popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent. It bears a close resemblance to the shikra, even in its style of flying and landing on a perch. The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoo; like many other cuckoos, these are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of babblers. During their breeding season in summer males produce loud, repetitive three-note calls that are well-rendered as brain-fever, the second note being longer and higher pitched. These notes rise to a crescendo…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_hawk-cuckoo

## Photo

![Indische sperwerkoekoek](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-hawk-cuckoo/medium.jpg)

Photo: Don Wellmann · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/265242286

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-hawk-cuckoo?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).