Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) [XC526704]
by Marc Anderson from Wetherby Rd, Mareeba Shire, Queensland, Australia (song)
Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) [XC351223]
by Rolf A. de By from Fraser Island, Fraser Coast Regional, Queensland, Australia (call)
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 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).
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet