Black cuckoo

The black cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. The species is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa. There are two subspecies. This cuckoo has a very wide range and is quite common so it is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Distribution

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Typical Environment

Occurs widely from West and Central Africa through East and southern Africa. It favors forest edges, riverine woodland, moist evergreen and miombo woodlands, and dense thickets within savanna mosaics. It keeps to the canopy and midstory, often near watercourses. The species undertakes intra-African movements, with some populations moving southwards in the wet season. It avoids open grasslands and very arid zones.

Altitude Range

0–2500 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size28–30 cm

Wing Span40–45 cm

Male Weight0.11 kg

Female Weight0.1 kg

Life Expectancy8 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

The black cuckoo is an obligate brood parasite, placing its eggs in the nests of other birds such as bulbuls and robin-chats. Males are typically uniform black, while females can show a rufous, barred hepatic morph. Its loud, far-carrying whistles often signal the start of the rainy season in many parts of Africa.

Gallery

Behaviour

Temperament

shy and skulking

Flight Pattern

strong flier with direct, swift wingbeats

Social Behavior

Generally solitary or in pairs, keeping to dense foliage. As a brood parasite, it does not build its own nest and lays eggs in the nests of other passerines, where the chick outcompetes the hosts' young. Courtship involves calling and display flights through the canopy.

Migratory Pattern

Seasonal migrant

Song Description

The call is a series of loud, fluty, mournful whistles that carry over long distances. Males call persistently during the wet season, often delivering evenly spaced notes in repetitive sequences.

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Identification

Leg Coloryellow

Eye Colordark brown

Plumage

Male is uniformly sooty to glossy black. Female may be similar or show a hepatic morph that is rufous-brown with dark barring on the underparts and tail. Feathers are sleek with minimal patterning in the black morph.

Feeding Habits

Diet

Feeds mainly on insects, especially caterpillars including hairy species that many birds avoid. Also takes beetles, grasshoppers, and other arthropods, occasionally small vertebrates and some fruit. Foraging is mostly by gleaning from foliage and branches, with short sallies to take prey.

Preferred Environment

Typically feeds in the canopy and midstory of woodlands and forest edges. Frequently forages along riverine corridors and in moist thickets, where prey is abundant after rains.

Population

Total Known Populationunknown

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