Black-eared Cuckoo
Chalcites osculans
Small plain cuckoo with a dark eye and black "ears." Inhabits dry woodlands, typically in arid regions. Usually solitary, shy, and most easily located when calling. Plain gray upperparts, pale underparts, with faint barring on undertail. Loud, piercing call descends in pitch, sounding somewhat sad, a repeated "fweeeew-fweeeeew-fweeeew."
Identification
Adult weight on average 30 grams (1.1 oz) and are 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long, with dull greyish-brown back with distinctive black eye-stripe from the bill to the neck. Rump is pale white and breasts area is pale salmon in colour. Feet and legs are black, eyes are brown, bill is black tail is grey/brown on top, with white tips, while underneath the tail is cream with brownish bars. What distinguishes it from other small sized cuckoo species in Australia is that it doesn't have a metallic coloured feathers on its back.<p>Juveniles are duller in colour with a more brown eye-stripe.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Chalcites osculans
- Authority
- (Gould, 1847)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Chalcites
Range and habitat
Dry open forests, scrublands, mallee, mulga, lignum, saltbush and riverside thickets. They prefers to fly direct between low trees and shrubs, rather than large trees, and are rare in subhumid areas. Common in most areas of Australia except wet coastal forested areas, basically inland side of great dividing range in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Vagrants found in Tasmania. Breeds in southern Australia below 23rd parallel south some birds will stay in southern Australia during winter, while many will migrate to Northern Australia and further north into Indonesia and PNG,
- Breeding range
- AU : Australia (except Tasmania)
- Non-breeding range
- to e Indonesian Arch. and s New Guinea
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Santa Marta Parakeet
Pyrrhura viridicata
Long tailed and rather plain parakeet endemic to Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains. The thick, white eye ring and red blotches on face and breast are its best features. Blue and red in wings is mostly concealed with the bird is perched. Typically encountered in small flocks that fly from tree to tree in the cloud forest, screeching loudly. Regularly seen along the San Lorenzo Ridge in El Dorado Nature Reserve, where nest boxes have been placed to improve its breeding success. Also nests and roosts in dead palm trees.
Pale-vented Pigeon
Patagioenas cayennensis
Large pigeon of marshy savannas, riversides, open areas with scattered trees, locally even in towns, such as Villahermosa, Mexico. Gray head contrasts with pinkish body, and whitish belly does not contrast strongly with plain grayish tail; compare darker Red-billed Pigeon, which often occurs in same areas but prefers drier and more forested habitats. Also note black bill of Pale-vented, and subtly distinctive song: after long introductory coo, repeated phrase is typically a 3-syllable "who’koo-koo", unlike 4-syllable "oo’koo-koo-koo" of Red-billed.
Sombre Greenbul
Andropadus importunus
The adult is a uniform drab-olive greenbul, slightly paler on the belly, with striking pale eyes that are characteristic. Juveniles have dark eyes and a small yellow gape. Pairs skulk and can be quite secretive in the midstory and canopy of forest, forest edge, and thickets up to 2000 meters of elevation, foraging on fruits and insects. It is often first detected by its loud, shrill “Willie! …..come out and play with me” song, ending with a nasal “sca-a-ared.” Northern birds sing a different song with a similar quality.
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