Alternative name: African Black Coucal
- Centropus grillii
Identification
35cm
- Blue-black head and back
- Grey eye
- Yellow bill
- Brown throat
- Blue-grey legs.
Distribution
Africa south of the Sahara:
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.[1]
In the past, Black Coucal has been viewed as a subspecies of Malagasy Coucal.
Habitat
Marsh / grasslands.
Behaviour
Breeding
The nest is placed in a tree and 2-6 white eggs are laid. Domed nests low in rank grassland also recorded. Sex roles largely reversed. Females initiate copulation with advertising calls from prominent perches. Some are polyandrous. Males tend the young.
Diet
The diet includes invertebrates.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Avibase
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Coucal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Coucal
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
