Cuco Tucán

Identificación

The world's largest cuckoo, the channel-billed cuckoo measures between 56–70 cm (22–28 in) long, with a 88–107 cm (35–42 in) wingspan, and weighing between 560–935 g (1.235–2.061 lb). 24 adults were found to have averaged 684 g (1.508 lb) in body mass. According to a manual on avian body masses, another species of cuckoo, the buff-headed coucal, may have a mean body mass some 11% higher than the channel-billed cuckoo. The bill is bi-coloured, with a grey base becoming straw-coloured at the tip. The bill is large slightly curved and reminiscent of the bills of hornbills; in fact, the bird is sometimes erroneously referred to as a hornbill. The plumage of the adult is pale grey on the head, chest, belly and back, becoming paler and barred lower down on the belly. The wings are darker grey with dark tips on the feathers. The tail is dark grey on top and barred underneath with a black band and white tip at the end. The feet and legs are black, and the eye is surrounded by prominent red skin. While most other very large cuckoos are rather terrestrial (i.e. roadrunners or the genus Neomorphus), the channel-billed cuckoo is fairly arboreal and is capable both in trees and on the ground. The channel-billed cuckoo is a strong flier, with a distinctive, almost hawk-like cross-shaped (cruciform) flight silhouette. There is some sexual dimorphism in both plumage and dimensions, the female having a smaller bill and paler, more barred undersides.<p>The juvenile is similar to the adult but has pale tips to the feathers of the wings, and the rest of the plumage is buff instead of pale grey. The bill is less massive and dirty pink in colour, and the skin around the eye is not red.

Taxonomía

Captain Arthur Phillip wrote of this (at the time) mysterious bird—calling it the 'psittaceous hornbill'—in his 1789 work The voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, consulting with ornithologist John Latham and deliberating that it had features of a parrot, hornbill or toucan, though conceding there were no toucans in the region. He gave it the name Scythrops novaehollandiae in 1790. Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek skuthro-/σκυθρο- 'angry' or 'sullen', and ops/ωψ 'face', 'eye' or 'countenance'. The specific epithet novaehollandiae means of New Holland, hence Australian. John White, the surgeon-general of the First Fleet to New South Wales, wrote A Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales in 1790, including this bird, which he termed 'anomalous hornbill". <p>Three subspecies are recognised: the nominate Scythrops novaehollandiae novaehollandiae of Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas, Scythrops novaehollandiae fordi in Sulawesi, and Scythrops novaehollandiae schoddei in the Bismarck Archipelago.<p>The only member of the genus Scythrops, the species is most closely related to the long-tailed cuckoo (Urodynamis taitensis), which breeds in New Zealand and winters in the Pacific islands, according to Sorenson and Payne (2005).<p>"Channel-billed cuckoo" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). Latham gave it the name "channel-bill" after a groove in its upper mandible

Nombre científico

Scythrops novaehollandiae

Autoridad

Latham, 1790

Orden

Cuculiformes

Familia

Cucúlidos

Género

Scythrops

Distribución y hábitat

The channel-billed cuckoo has a widespread distribution across northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the islands of eastern Indonesia as far west as Sulawesi. The species is a permanent resident in the Bismarck Archipelago, Flores and Sulawesi. Elsewhere within its range it is migratory. Birds breeding in Australia range from north eastern Western Australia through the Northern Territory and Queensland down into eastern New South Wales as far as Sydney. In recent years, the breeding range of these cuckoos appears to have extended further down the south coast of NSW. A few stragglers reach the eastern tip of Victoria, but are not thought to breed there. Vagrant birds have reached New Zealand and New Caledonia.<p>After the breeding season, in March and April, birds breeding in Australia begin to migrate northwards to their wintering grounds in New Guinea and Indonesia. Birds breeding in New South Wales begin leaving earlier, in February and March. The migration route is across the Torres Strait, travelling individually or in small groups. From New Guinea they migrate across the nearby islands as far as Timor and the Moluccas. It is not known if the species breeds in New Guinea, as some birds are present there all year. Migrating channel-billed cuckoos begin to return to Australia in August and September.

Migración

Migrantes completos

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Migrantes completos.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: estable.

Tendencia poblacional

estable