Black-throated Coucal - BirdForum Opus

Centropus leucogaster

Includes Neumann's Coucal

Identification

Length 46-58 cm; a large coucal.

• Black upperparts and from head to breast
• Barred buff back
• Blue glossed tail
• Rufous-chestnut wings, darker at tips
• White belly with creamy wash on flanks
• Red eye
• Black bill
• Black to blue-grey feet
• leucogaster violet-blue glossed, efulensis with blackish inner secondaries, neumanni smaller but otherwise similar to efulensis

Sexes alike. Juveniles similar but without gloss on head and breast, barred brown on wings, buffy belly with more bars and horn lower mandible.

Distribution

West and Central Africa.
Uncommon to fairly common in its range.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

Centropus leucogaster has three subspecies:

• C. l. leucogaster

• Southern Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to south-eastern Nigeria

• C. l. efulenensis

• Lowland forests of south-western Cameroon and Gabon

• C. l. neumanni

• North-eastern DRC
• Considered a separate species (Neumann's Coucal) by some authorities.^[2][3][4]

Habitat

Dense second growth along forest edge and grassy swamps. Often along streams and at margins of raphia swamps.
Occurs in lowlands.

Behaviour

Skulking, often difficult to see.

Diet

Feeds on insects, takes also snails and frogs.
Forages on or near the ground.

Breeding

Breeding season differs through range. The nest is a large ball made of leaves and grass, placed up to 30cm above the ground in a bush, in forest or in long grass. Lays 2 eggs.

Movements

This is a resident species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334221
3. Gill, F, M Wright and D Donsker. 2009. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.0). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
4. Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
5. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-throated Coucal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-throated_Coucal

External Links

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