Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo
Cacomantis castaneiventris
Small cuckoo with deep orange-brown underparts, gray upperparts, barred undertail, and a yellow eyering. Typically inhabits dense rainforest habitats. Secretive; most easily located when calling. Plumage similar to Fan-tailed Cuckoo but smaller, more richly colored. Call is a piercing, descending trill, similar to that of Fan-tailed.
Identification
The chestnut-breasted cuckoo is about 22–25 centimetres (8.7–9.8 in) long. Adults have a dark slaty grey-blue head, back and wings, deep rufous breast and underparts and barred black and white tail. Immatures are dull greyish cinnamon on the head and wings, grading to dull mid brown on the outer parts of the wings, and pale buff or cinnamon on the breast and underparts. The tail is barred mid brown and white. Both adults and immatures have a yellow orbital eye ring.<p>The chestnut-breasted cuckoo is slightly smaller than the similar brush cuckoo (C. variolosus) and fan-tailed cuckoo (C. flabelliformis), but the breast and underparts of the adult chestnut-breasted cuckoo is much darker.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies are currently recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cacomantis castaneiventris
- Authority
- (Gould, 1867)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cacomantis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cuckoo-roller
Leptosomus discolor
A large, big-headed, short-legged bird that is very odd in almost every way, especially in the position of the eye near the top of the head. Males have a pale head and underparts and a colorful iridescent back. Females are rufous brown with heavy spotting below. Found in all forest types, and sometimes in adjacent scrub and plantations. Often perches and feeds in the canopy, though rarely on an emergent branch. Males and pairs frequently make soaring display flights, constantly giving incredibly loud and persistent three-part wailing calls. Much larger than Broad-billed Roller, with a dark bill. Looks raptor-like, but has a huge head, small bill, and less powerful wingbeats.
White-throated Quail-Dove
Zentrygon frenata
Plump ground-dwelling dove. Large for a quail-dove with buffy face, gray crown, scaly neck, and white throat. Body mostly brown. Sexes alike. Found in montane forests at higher elevations than other quail-doves, from 1,000–3,300 m. Usually walks on the ground unless flushed up into the lower levels of a tree. Like most quail-doves, often best seen by quietly walking along trails at dawn and dusk. Listen for low-pitched descending “coo” notes.
Blackcap Babbler
Turdoides reinwardtii
A mostly brownish babbler with a black head and a white eye. The underparts are pale in the west and become increasingly darker in the eastern part of the range. Found in moist woodland, dense savanna, scrub, gallery forest, forest edge, cultivated areas, and gardens. Almost always in groups, which feed by hopping across the ground. Similar in behavior, shape, size, and overall brown coloration to Brown Babbler, but easily separated by the black head and the lack of a contrastingly paler rump. Calls include a raspy babbling, nasal calls, and a dry clucking, all usually given by a whole group in chorus.
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