Black Cuckoo
Cuculus clamosus
This large cuckoo has two morphs: (1) entirely black except for white tips to the long tail and sometimes limited white barring elsewhere, and (2) dark-backed with a rufous chest and black-and-white-barred underparts. The latter are more frequently found in West Central Africa. It has a characteristically swerving flight. It is resident and migrant, preferring thicker woodland and forest, It produces a mournful, three-noted call “I’m so saaaaad” call, the last note rising. Similar dark-morph Jacobin and Levaillant’s cuckoos differ from Black Cuckoo in having crests and strong white flashes in the wings.
Identification
The black cuckoo is a medium-sized cuckoo. The sexes are similar, the plumage varying by subspecies; Cuculus clamosus clamosus has upper parts black glossed with green, slatey-grey wings and black tail tipped with white and sometimes with the outer feathers barred or spotted with white or buff; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cuculus clamosus
- Authority
- Latham, 1801
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cuculus
Range and habitat
The subspecies Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is a resident in Central Africa, whereas the Southern African subspecies Cuculus clamosus clamosus is migratory, breeding in Southern Africa in September to December, then moving in March to Central, Eastern and West Africa. The range of this species extends from Liberia to Ethiopia in the east and Angola and South Africa. It is a woodland bird but avoids the interior of dense forests, preferring acacia woodland, thickets, riverside woodland, plantations and trees around villages.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The black cuckoo feeds mainly on hairy caterpillars but also consumes termites and ants, including winged ones caught in flight, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects, as well as birds' eggs and nestlings.<p>The black cuckoo is a brood parasite. Its main hosts are bushshrikes, particularly the tropical boubou and crimson-breasted shrike. When parasitising the boubou, the eggs hatch after about fourteen days, three days before the boubou's eggs. The cuckoo chick evicts other eggs and nestlings usually within thirty hours of hatching. It is fledged in about sixteen days and leaves the nest a few days later. The foster parents continue to feed it for another three weeks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Stiles's Tapaculo
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Gray-cheeked Bulbul
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A large bulbul with a short brown crest, a gray face, a white throat, a greenish-brown back, and a dirty yellow breast and belly. Found at low and middle elevations in primary and secondary forests and forest edges, as well as in overgrown plantations and gardens. Loud, variable song is a cheery and repetitive stream of various notes, including musical “chew” notes and rougher scolds and rattles. Crest is short and weak, separating it from White-throated and Ochraceous Bulbuls. Brown cap and duller underparts separate this species from Yellow-bellied Bulbul.
Black-headed Bulbul
Microtarsus melanocephalos
Olive-yellow bulbul with a black head and unsettling sapphire eyes. Broad black band across the tail is especially noticeable when seen from below. No other bulbul in its range sports a crestless dark head, but look out for the slenderer and longer-billed leafbirds, whose dark throats may cause confusion when seen from below. Extremely rare gray morph replaces all yellow with gray, and intermediate birds have both yellow and gray patches. Inhabits broadleaf and mixed forests as well as edges, often in areas close to water. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks in the upper layers of lowland and foothill forest. Unlike many other bulbuls, not particularly vocal; gives occasional “chew” or “chep” notes, often while flying.
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