Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus
Pheasant Coucal, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia, November 2010 - click for larger image Queensland, Australia
November 2010

The Pheasant Coucal is distributed in New Guinea, Timor and Australia. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. They are found mainly in dense vegetation along rivers, swamps, roadsides and gardens.

Pheasant Coucal, Cooktown, Queensland, Australia, November 2010 - click for larger image In breeding plumage, as in photo 1, the head, neck and underparts are black with shiny feather shafts while the remaining upperparts are rufous brown with black and cream barring. The tail is long and black with buffy bars and with a white tip while the bill is black and the eye is red in colour. In non-breeding plumage (photos 2 and 3), the head, neck and underparts are brown with buffy streaks, the tail is brown with buffy bars, the bill is horn coloured and the iris is pale brown to whitish.

Pheasant Coucal, Cooktown, Queensland, Australia, November 2010 - click for larger image The vocalisation is often a duet of a series of hollow, booming notes falling and then rising in pitch.

Previous Page Back to Index Next Page

If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional

Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites