- Scythrops novaehollandiae
Identification
60 cm (23¾ in); an atypical, very large cuckoo.
- Pale grey head, back and underparts
- Black spots on back
- Dark grey wings
- Tail
- Barred undertail
- Black band
- White tip
- Red skin around eye
- Grey, large, curved bill with straw coloured tip
- Black legs and feet
Female: paler, more barred underneath, smaller bill
Juvenile: buff plumage, pink bill
Flight
When flying, shows pointed wingtips, hawk-like flight (often high) and looks like a flying cross.
Distribution
Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia; southern populations migratory (going north in winter).
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three subspecies recognized[1]:
- S. n. fordi in Sulawesi and the Banggai, Sula, and Tukangbesi Islands
- S. n. schoddei in Bismarck Archipelago
- S. n. novaehollandiae breeds northern and eastern Australia; migrates to New Guinea, Lesser Sundas, and Moluccas
Habitat
Moist lowland forests and mangrove forests and forest edges. Open woodland, bushland, beaches, golf courses, wetlands, suburban gardens.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes ripe fruit (particularly figs), beetles, stick insects, butterflies, grasshoppers, the eggs and young of birds.
Breeding
They are brood parasites; several eggs can be laid in a nest, sometimes by different females. The eggs are red-brown or yellow-brown or dull white, with darker brown splotches. Hosts include the Australian Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, the Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina and members of the crow family (Corvidae).
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2016)
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Channel-billed Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Channel-billed_Cuckoo
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
