They are known for their loud and repetitive calls which are similar to that of the common hawk-cuckoo but do not rise in crescendo.

They are also somewhat larger and adults can be readily told apart from the smaller common hawk-cuckoo by the black patch on the chin.

It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[2] The subspecies H. s. bocki of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo is usually considered a separate species, the dark hawk-cuckoo.

Many laughing-thrushes (example Pterorhinus sannio) are capable of detecting the eggs of the cuckoo and remove them.