- Centropus cupreicaudus
Identification
42-50cm
- Violet glossed black upperback and crown
- Violet gloss to head and neck
- Dark brown wing and wing coverts
- Rufous rump
- Black, finely barred, uppertail coverts
- Copper glossed brown tail
- Cream underparts
- Red iris
- Black bill and feet
Distribution
Tropical Africa: Zambia, Caprivi (north-western Namibia), northern Botswana, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Tanzania, southern Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- C. c. songweensis: southern Tanzania
- C. c. cupreicaudus: Angola to southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, southwestern Tanzania, and Malawi
Subspecies songweensis is not considered valid by all resources.
Habitat
Wetlands with reeds and other tall growth, swamps and marshes.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes snails, snakes, grasshoppers, fish, rodents and waterweed.
Breeding
A spherical nest is built from grass, twigs and straw; it is lined with leaves. The clutch consists of 2-4 white eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Avibase
- The Cuckoos By Robert B. Payne, Michael D. Sorenson, Karen Klitz
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Coppery-tailed Coucal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Coppery-tailed_Coucal
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
