Barred Cuckooshrike - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-shrike

Photo by mehdhalaouate
Numfor island, Papua, December 2004

Coracina lineata

Identification

22–29 cm

Dark bluish-grey head, upperparts and upper wing coverts
Black line from lores to eye
Black and white barred underparts
Black legs and bill

Subspecies lineata
Photo by nyoman
Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia, June 2006

Immature

Dark eye
Scalloped appearance to plumage on head and body
Whitish underparts

Similar Species

Oriental Cuckoo:

Distribution

Southeast Asia: found in Indonesia, Moluccas
Australasia: Papua New Guinea, Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, Melanesia, Solomon Islands

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 10 subspecies^[1]:

C. l. axillaris: Mountains of central New Guinea and Waigeo Island
C. l. maforensis: Numfor Island (New Guinea)
C. l. sublineata: Bismarck Archipelago (New Ireland and New Britain)
C. l. nigrifrons: Solomon Islands (Bougainville, Choiseul and Santa Isabel)
C. l. ombriosa: Solomon Islands (Kulambangra, New Georgia Group and Rendova)
C. l. pusilla: Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
C. l. malaitae: Malaita (Solomon Islands)
C. l. makirae: Makira (Solomon Islands)
C. l. gracilis: Rennell (Solomon Islands)
C. l. lineata: North-eastern Australia (eastern Cape York Peninsula to north-eastern New South Wales)

Habitat

Tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, mangroves, vine-scrub and margins. Eucalypt forests and woodlands, forest edges clearings in secondary growth. Paperbarks, timber on watercourses. Fruit trees, particularly figs. Plantations and gardens.

Behaviour

They roost communually.

Action

They constantly flick their wings.

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of fruit, in particular figs, with the addition of insects.

They feed in pairs or parties making short, quick flights to the canopy to find the fruit.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)
Pizzey, G and F Knight. 1997. Field Guide to Birds of Australia. London: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0207196911

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Barred Cuckooshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 15 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Barred_Cuckooshrike

External Links

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