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 LC    Pheasant Coucal* Id (Atlas): 349
    Centropus phasianinus

Description (10)
Image of Pheasant Coucal
 

Other Names (World)
Pheasant Coucal, Coucal, Common Coucal, Pheasant, Cane Pheasant, Japanese Pheasant, Northwest Pheasant, Swamp Pheasant, Spur-footed Cuckoo, Swamp Cuckoo

Family
Cuculidae (Cuckoos)

Size
50 - 70 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Latham, 1801)

Derivation
Cen'-tro-pus - Gk, centron, spur; Gk, pus (pous), podos, foot: phä-si-ä-nï'-nus - L., pheasant-like

Abundance (Guide)
C

Common. Sedentary.

Habitat
Grassy, swampy flats, wet heathlands, scrub on watercourses, lantana thickets, brigalow, pandanus, edges of mangroves, sugar-cane, roadsides, gardens.

Range (Guide)
Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (B) (NB).

Image of Range of Pheasant Coucal
Northern and eastern Australia, west to about Shark Bay, WA and south to about Ulladulla, NSW.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
Probably secure.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly or in pairs.

Food
Mainly large insects, but also frogs, lizards, eggs and young of birds, and small mammals.

Voice
Deep, hollow, accelerating, descending, 'coop-coop-coop-coop-coop-coop'.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (39)...)

 
Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) [XC168878]
     by Mike Williamson from Brisbane Water National Park, New South Wales, Australia (call)

 
Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) [XC232628]
     by James Lambert from Broome Bird Observatory, Western Australia, Australia (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly September - January.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
Shallow platform composed of sticks or short lengths of grass, rush or sugar-cane trash, twisted together, usually lined with leaves or bits of grass, in grass, the surrounding grass drawn togther to form a canopy, usually with an entrance at both end, on or near the ground.

Eggs (Guide)
2 - 5; slightly lustrous, chalky texture, dirty white; rounded to long-oval; about 38 x 29 mm. Incubation: about 15 days; by both sexes.

Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 12 - 15 days.

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Kai Coucal (Centropus spilopterus), Black-billed Coucal (Centropus bernsteini) and Biak Coucal (Centropus chalybeus).

Subspecies mui of Timor may possibly represent a separate species, but to date known only from a single specimen.

The following 7 subspecies are recognised:

  • phasianinus (Latham, 1801)   -  Coastal and subcoastal eastern Australia, from Burdekin Lowlands to Sydney, NSW.
  • melanurus Gould, 1847   -  Coastal northern Australia from the Pilbara through the Kimberley Divide and Top End to Cape York Peninsula, on the eastern coast to as far south as the Burdekin River.
  • mui Mason, IJ & McKean, 1984   -  Timor.
  • thierfelderi Stresemann, 1927   -  Southern New Guinea lowlands.
  • nigricans (Salvadori, 1876)   -  Eastern lowlands of New Guinea.
  • propinqus Mayr, 1937   -  Coastal northern New Guinea from the Mamberamo River to Astrolabe Bay.
  • spilopterus Gray, GR, 1858   -  Kai Islands (south-eastern Moluccas). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Kai Coucal (Centropus spilopterus).



References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

More... see more information (images, calls, videos etc)


Files:
JPG files for Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) - 10 filesMP3 files for Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) - 2 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Pheasant Coucal see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


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