Burchell's coucal

Burchell's coucal (Centropus burchellii), is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa. It inhabits areas with thick cover afforded by rank undergrowth and scrub, including in suitable coastal regions. Common names include gewone vleiloerie in Afrikaans and umGugwane in Zulu.[1] It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the white-browed coucal. It is named after the British naturalist William John Burchell.

Burchell's coucal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Centropus
Species:
C. burchellii
Binomial name
Centropus burchellii
Swainson, 1838

Habits

This common resident of southern Africa is usually seen as a solitary individual or in pairs. They prefer clambering through thickets in bushveld, marshes, riparian fringes or coastal bush. It is more often heard than it is seen. When it does fly, the flight is ponderous and ends with a long glide to the next thicket.

Voice

This bird has a distinctive call, which resembles water pouring from a bottle, and various other calls such as the "dove" call and an alarm hiss. The birds are most vocal in the breeding season, and a couple may call in duet, or several birds may call in concert.[2]

Nesting

Between September and February (austral summer) a large matted nest is normally made in a thorn tree. Usually four white eggs are laid,[1] and these hatch out after 14 to 18 days. Both parents feed the nestlings for another three weeks.[3]

Food

Burchell's coucal is predatory, stalking through thick bush and eating insects (including Orthoptera), snails, amphibians (frogs and toads), reptiles (including lizards and chameleons) and birds up to the size of a laughing dove.[3] Nests of other birds are often raided.

  • Finely barred rump and tail coverts, combined with unmarked underpart plumage, are field marks of adult birds
  • Individual with creamy-white supercilium and heavily streaked nape
  • Sunning and preening with exposed uropygial gland
  • A pair in woodland
  • Navigating bulrush in an upland marsh

References
  1. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 1996. pp. 337–338. ISBN 0620175834.
  2. Erritzøe, Johannes; Mann, Clive F.; Brammer, Frederik; Fuller, Richard A. (2012). Cuckoos of the World. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 174–176. ISBN 978-1-4081-4267-7.
  3. "Centropus burchellii (Burchell's coucal)". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
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