- Coracina cucullata
Identification
22-24 cm
- Typical male has dark head (including chin and throat), medium dark upperside and white underside.
- Female is similar but with grey crown and paler side chin/throat area.
- Variant male similar in distribution of colors to female but with dark grey replaced by olive green and white replaced by olive-yellow.
Variation
Female of subspecies moheliensis has completely white throat area
Distribution
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized[1]:
- C. c. cucullata -- Comoro Islands (Grande Comoro)
- C. c. moheliensis -- Comoro Islands (Mohéli)
This species and Madagascar Cuckooshrike were previously considered one species, Ashy Cuckooshrike.
Habitat
Mostly found in native evergreen forest with large trees but may occasionally be found in dryer, more open forest.
Behaviour
Uses both gleaning and sallying to capture insects and other invertebrates, and supplements with some fruit.
Vocalisation
Calls are often two syllables long, second lower pitch than the first.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2021. IOC World Bird List (v11.1). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.11.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Comoros Cuckooshrike (Coracina cucullata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ashcus3.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Comoros Cuckooshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Comoros_Cuckooshrike
