- Centropus senegalensis
Identification
39 cm
- Black upperparts, bill, legs and long tail
- Chestnut wings
- White underparts
Sexes are similar
Juveniles are duller and barred above
There is a rarer dark phase of the bird, which some people believe to be a different species. The dark-phase bird is only found from Ghana to southern Nigeria. The two phases interbreed[3].
Distribution
Africa
Northern Africa: found only in Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, DRC, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- C. s. aegyptius:
- Lower Egypt (Nile River to El Minya)
- C. s. senegalensis:
- Senegambia to Somalia and south to Zaire
- C. s. flecki:
Habitat
Moist woodland scrub, swamps, farmland and gardens.
Behaviour
Active at dawn & again at dusk.
A bizarre skulking cuckoo relative which spends a large amount of time on the ground creeping through the undergrowth.
Breeding
They are not brood parasites, building large untidy ball-shaped nests of stalks and leaves in vegetation. The clutch consists of 2-4 eggs.
Though their reproductive strategy is poorly understood it may involve juvenile helpers and possibly polygamy.
Diet
The diet includes large insects, caterpillars, small lizards and frogs.
Vocalisation
This bird's call is a classical west African sound resembling water glugging out of a bottle (hence the alternative name of Bottle-bird) - a kind of sonorous low pitched who-who-who-who-who noise.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- JH Elgood's "Birds of the West African town and garden"
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Senegal Coucal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Senegal_Coucal
External Links
Search the Gallery using the scientific name:
Search the Gallery using the common name:
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