From Opus

Scythrops novaehollandiae

Adult
Photo by aussietrev
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

[edit] Identification

Atypical, very large cuckoo.

58-66 cm

• Pale grey head, chest, belly and back
• Dark grey wings
• Tail
  • Barred undertail
  • Black band
  • White tip
• Red skin around eye
• Grey, large, curved bill with straw coloured tip
• Black legs and feet
  

Juvenile
Photo by Neil
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, December 2004

Female: paler, more barred underneath, smaller bill
Juvenile: buff plumage, pink bill

When flying, shows pointed wingtips, hawk-like flight (often high) and looks like a flying cross.

[edit] Distribution

Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia; southern populations migratory (going north in winter).

[edit] Taxonomy

Often viewed as a monotypic species^[1], but some authorities recognize three subspecies: novaehollandiae, fordi, and schoddei^[2].

[edit] Habitat

Photo by fthsm
Mason Park, Sydney, October 2008

Moist lowland forests and mangrove forests. Open woodland, bushland, beaches, golfcourses, wetlands, suburban gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes ripe fruit (particularly figs), beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, the eggs and young of birds.

[edit] Breeding

They are brood parasites; several eggs can be laid in a nest, sometimes by different females. The eggs are red-brown or yellow-brown or dull white, with darker brown splotches. Hosts include the Australian Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, the Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina and members of the crow family (Corvidae).

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links