Abstract
Molting data was obtained on 20 August 2008 for an injured Little Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus that was treated, banded and released; and on 22 August for a female Oriental Cuckoo C. saturatus that was found deceased. The data were obtained in Oita Prefecture, in the eastern part of the island of Kyushu, southwestern Japan. Both these species are summer breeders in Japan, with respectively 42 and 147 banding records from 1961 to 1995. Data on aging and molting, however, are few in number. The reddish color of the rescued Little Cuckoo indicates that this individual was most likely a female, and the lack of juvenile feathers indicates that the bird was an adult that had passed at least one winter. The tartials and body feathers were in the process of molting, and the tail contained both new and old feathers, all of which showed worn edges. The iris was dark brown. The deceased Oriental Cuckoo was too badly decomposed to determine sex, but the lack of juvenile feathers indicate that this bird was also past its first winter. The 2nd, 3rd and 7th primaries were fresh, but the remaining primaries were worn and faded. All the secondaries except for the 7th and 8th, as well as all the tartials, were also old feathers. The greater, median and lesser covers, as well as the alula, showed a mixture of new and old feathers. The two central tail feathers were in the process of growing (score 4 on the Ginn and Melville ranking), but the remaining tail feathers were old. The body feathers were not yet molting.
