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
Humaita Antbird
Myrmelastes humaythae
Understory antbird of wet, forested habitats. Males are evenly gray; females are warm brown. Both sexes have tiny white wing spots and light gray eyes. Part of the species complex previously known as “Spot-winged Antbird;” it is similar to the previously conspecific Brownish-headed Antbird, which is separated by range and habitat. Humaita Antbird is found away from the foothills, in the Amazonian lowlands, while Brownish-headed is found in the understory of mature rainforest along the base of the Andes. In parts of its range, it is found nearly exclusively in palm swamps. Its song is a slowly-rising series of rapid high notes.
Masked Antpitta
Hylopezus auricularis
Medium-sized antpitta of floodplain forest, particularly with palmetto understory, along the confluence of the Ríos Madre de Dios and Bení in the Riberalta area. The only antpitta in range with dark chevrons on underparts or a blue-gray cap. Forages on or near the ground, but generally perches 1-2 m up in the understory or midstory to sing at dawn. Visually distinctive in range, but song deceptively similar to, and perhaps indistinguishable from, local songs of Amazonian Antshrike. Call a more distinctive three to four-part descending whistle.
Dusky-throated Hermit
Phaethornis squalidus
Small understory hummingbird found in montane forest and dense second growth. Note its strongly curved bill and prominent dark mask and a pale eyebrow. Largely brownish, but is slightly, green above and paler below. The long tail is strongly graduated, dark at the base with pale tips. It is similar to Scale-throated Hermit, but Dusky-throated Hermit is smaller with a pale throat.
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