Malagasy Coucal
Centropus toulou
A large, robust cuckoo with a black body and rufous wings. The head is pure black in breeding plumage and streaked white in non-breeding plumage. Found in a wide variety of habitats, including forest, scrub, plantations, savannah, and marsh. Generally skulks in thick vegetation, anywhere from the ground to high in the canopy, though will sometimes sing from an exposed perch. “Water bottle” song is a beautiful descending series of “boop” notes. Call is a long, dry rattle. Size, shape, and dark coloration make it distinctive within its range.
Identification
The Malagasy coucal is a medium-sized bird with the adult length being in the range 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in). The male is smaller than the female, weighing about 140 g (5 oz) to the female's 190 g (7 oz), but otherwise the sexes are similar in appearance. In breeding plumage the bird is black, glossed with green, except for the tips of its wings which are brown and its mid and lower back which are reddish brown. In non-breeding plumage the head, neck and throat are brown streaked with cream, the wings reddish brown, the uppertail coverts black with some pale barring, the tail blackish brown with faint barring and the belly blackish brown. The iris is red, the bill black in breeding plumage and pale in non-breeding plumage, and the feet are grey to black. The call is a descending series of notes that sound like water pouring out of a bottle, and is often sung as a duet with the bird's mate.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Centropus toulou
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Centropus
Range and habitat
The Malagasy coucal is resident in Madagascar and in Aldabra in the Seychelles, to which it may have spread via the Comoros, although it has not been present in the latter in historic times. It is found in a range of habitats including among undergrowth in both primary and secondary forests, woodland edges, clearings, palm groves, reedbeds, marshes, mangroves, rough grassland, paddifields and gardens at altitudes of up to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft).<p>There are two subspecies,
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Malagasy coucal inhabits thick, bushy places. It is a predator and feeds in the undergrowth and on the ground by pursuing and pouncing on its prey. Its diet includes large insects, spiders, molluscs and other invertebrates, geckos, skinks, chameleons and rodents, all of which it swallows whole. It pries off loose bark on trees to search for lizards or other prey hiding underneath. It has been recorded raiding bird nests and devouring the eggs and nestlings.<p>Breeding takes place between September and March and the male undertakes much of the nesting activity. The nest is a large, dome-shaped structure with an entrance at one end, hidden in dense vegetation within a few metres of the ground. It is composed of grasses, leaves, stems and tendrils and the female may start laying before it is completed. A clutch of two to three (occasionally four or five) smooth white eggs is laid at intervals of several days. Each egg hatches after about fifteen days of incubation, which is performed mostly by the male. The chicks grow rapidly and fledge about nineteen days later.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-browed Coucal
Centropus superciliosus
A large, robust, ungainly cuckoo with rufous wings and a long, broad tail. Shows a solid dark cap and back of the head, and white underparts. Unlike other coucals, shows an obviously barred rump and upper tail coverts. It often moves clumsily, preferring to clamber about in rank vegetation or walk on the ground foraging for insects or small vertebrates. Its flight is labored and heavy. This species uses a wide variety of habitats with a thick understory, including savanna, woodland, forest edge, and wetlands. The song is a deep descending bubbling series, “bu-bu-bu bu bu bu bu”, that falls and then rises in pitch.
Dusky-tailed Antbird
Drymophila malura
Medium-sized antbird with a long olive-brown tail. Found in the dense understory of humid forest, woodlands, and forest edges. Males have an olive-brown back, tail, and vent and a heavily streaked head and breast. Females are rufous above with a lightly streaked head and breast.
Andean Duck
Oxyura ferruginea
Small, compact duck with a long, fan-shaped tail, often held sticking up out of water. Breeding males have a chestnut body, black head, and baby-blue bill. Nonbreeding males and females are variably brown overall, often with a smudgy dark face and a dark line through the cheek. Occurs in pairs or loose flocks, bobbing like corks on lakes in the Andes from central Colombia to southern Chile. Dives to forage on aquatic invertebrates. Not often seen flying.
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