Moderately common. Nomadic movements following rains.
Habitat
Low open woodlands and shrublands with sparse or no ground cover, including eucalypt woodlands, acacia woodlands and scrublands. Grassy plains with few trees and some scattered shrubs.
Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima) [XC680654]
by id from Paroo Darling National Park, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima) [XC552673]
by Marc Anderson from Tablelands, Barkly Shire, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
August - November or after rain.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
Saucer-shaped, composed of grass, plant-stems, rootlets or wools, bound with cobweb, on a horizontal fork in a tree, up to 25 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; dull green either unmarked or with indistinct brown markings; tapered-oval; about 34 x 24 mm. Incubation: by both sexes. More than one clutch has been recorded in a single nest.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 29 days.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Northern birds have been separated as subspecies pallida on basis of slightly paler overall colour, but degree of difference from birds elsewhere in species' range is small (minor Gloger effect).
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
(33Kb) © ? (
BirdLife International Species Factsheet