Dusky long-tailed cuckoo

The dusky long-tailed cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in forests in Central Africa. The IUCN has assessed it as a least-concern species.

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Distribution

Region

Central Africa

Typical Environment

Occurs in lowland and foothill tropical rainforests from Cameroon and Gabon through the Congo Basin into northern Angola and western Uganda. It favors primary forest but also uses mature secondary growth with a closed canopy and dense thickets. Most records are from interior forest away from open edges, though it may visit forest edges and clearings to forage. It is typically elusive, moving quietly through vine tangles and sapling thickets. Local movements likely track food availability and breeding opportunities.

Altitude Range

0–1800 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size28–33 cm

Wing Span40–46 cm

Male Weight0.075 kg

Female Weight0.07 kg

Life Expectancy7 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

A secretive forest cuckoo of Central Africa, the dusky long-tailed cuckoo keeps to dense understory and midstory where it is more often heard than seen. Its long, graduated tail and soft, mournful whistles are distinctive in deep forest. Like many cuckoos, it is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of smaller forest songbirds. The IUCN currently lists it as Least Concern, though it depends on intact forest.

Behaviour

Temperament

solitary and secretive

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats with brief direct dashes between cover

Social Behavior

Usually encountered singly or in pairs within dense forest. It practices brood parasitism, placing eggs in the nests of small insectivorous passerines and relying on host parents to rear the young. Courtship and breeding behavior are discreet, with adults remaining hidden in foliage.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

Gives a soft, mournful series of whistled notes that can sound ventriloquial and carry through the forest understory. Phrases are often repeated at steady intervals, sometimes accelerating slightly. Calls are most frequent at dawn and in calm periods.

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Identification

Comb Type

Plumage Description

Feather Color

Leg Color

Earlobe Color

Eye Color

Feeding Habits

Diet

Preferred Environment

Requires Supplement

Population

Conservation Status

Species Status

Wild Population

Total Known Population

Dusky megapode

The dusky megapode, also known as dusky scrubfowl or common megapode, is a medium-sized, approximately 41 cm long, blackish bird with a short pointed crest, bare red facial skin, dark legs, brown irises, and a dark brown and yellow bill. The male and female are similar. This terrestrial species lives in forests and swamps, including mangroves, of the Maluku and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia. Like other megapodes, it lays its eggs in a mound made from earth mixed with leaves, sand, gravel, and sticks, which can be as large as 11 m (36 ft) in diameter and stand nearly 5 m (16 ft) tall.

Dusky moorhen

The dusky moorhen is a bird species in the rail family and is one of the eight extant species in the moorhen genus. It occurs in India, Australia, New Guinea, Borneo and Indonesia. It is often confused with the purple swamphen and the Eurasian coot due to similar appearance and overlapping distributions. They often live alongside birds in the same genus, such as the Tasmanian nativehen and the common moorhen.

Dusky myzomela

The dusky myzomela or dusky honeyeater is a small, brown bird that is a common resident of the Aru Islands, southern New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia, where there are two separated populations, one in the Top End, another from Cape York Peninsula along the east coast as far south as the New South Wales border, though the species is rare south of Rockhampton. The Moluccan myzomela, red-tinged myzomela, and Biak myzomela were formerly considered conspecific, but was split as distinct species by the IOC in 2021.