Alternative names: Blue-grey Cuckooshrike; Stout-billed Greybird
- Coracina caeruleogrisea
Identification
33-37 cm. A blue-grey Cuckooshrike with a heavy bill.
- Blue-grey upperparts, brighter blue on head
- Black chin, base of forehead and lores
- Black alula, primary coverts and coverts
- Black tail
- Bluish-grey underparts, duller than upperparts
- Pale rufous axillaries and whitish-buff underwing-coverts
- Blackish-brown to chestnut eye
- Heavy black bill
Sexes similar, females are duller than males and lack black on head.
Similar species
Much bigger than similar Boyer's Cuckooshrike. Note also the larger and heavier bill and the lack of black on throat.
Distribution
New Guinea and some adjacent islands.
Locally fairly common.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
- C. c. strenua in the mountains of west and central New Guinea and Yapen Island
- C. c. caeruleogrisea on Aru Islands and in Trans-Fly lowlands of south New Guinea
- C. c. adamsoni in southeast New Guinea (Astrolabe Bay to Hall Sound)
Forms possibly a superspecies with Indian Cuckooshrike, Oriental Cuckooshrike, Malayan Cuckooshrike, Slaty Cuckooshrike, Wallacean Cuckooshrike, Moluccan Cuckooshrike, Buru Cuckooshrike, North Melanesian Cuckooshrike, South Melanesian Cuckooshrike and Black-faced Cuckooshrike.
Habitat
Moist lowland forests and montanes. Also in disturbed habitats and tall secondary growth.
From sea-level up to 1700 m, occasionally higher.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on large insects. Takes also fruit and some small lizards. Forages usually in pairs or in small groups in the upper levels of trees.
Breeding
Breeding season probably late in dry season and early and late in wet season.
Movements
Probably a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.4). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Stout-billed Cuckooshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Stout-billed_Cuckooshrike
