Albania (B), Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Bulgaria (B), Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cyprus (B), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France (B), Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece (B) (P), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (NB), Israel (B), Italy (B), Jordan (P), Kenya, Lebanon (B), Lesotho, Liberia, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Montenegro (B), Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal (B), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (B), Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain (B) (NB), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (B), Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Denmark, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Moldova [Republic of], Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Seychelles, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Yemen.
Berian Peninsula, southern France and western Italy; Turkey and Cyprus east to northern Iraq and western Iran, and south through Middle East to Egypt; also sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Liberia east to Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, northern Somalia and Kenya, and south to Tanzania, Angola and South Africa. Virtually all populations winter in Africa; regular in small numbers in southern Spain.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 500,000 - 5,000,000 (2010).
Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) [XC797553]
by Feliu L\u00f3pez i Gelats from Pla\u00e7a Vila VNG - Catalunya, Spain (nocturnal flight call)
Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) [XC138210]
by Esperanza Poveda from West Jaraicejo, Extremadura, France (call)
Subspecies
A smaller subspecies, choragium, has been described from southern Africa, but breeding birds there overlap considerably in size with breeding birds in Mediterranean zone, and are not distinguishable.