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Pallid Cuckoo
Scientific Name: Cacomantis pallidus
Description: The Pallid Cuckoo is identified by its grey plumage, which is darker on the wings and back, and its broadly barred black and white undertail. The bill is brown, the legs and feet are grey-brown, and there is a bright yellow ring around the eye. No other Australian cuckoo has this colouration. It is a large, slender cuckoo and is somewhat hawk-like in appearance during flight. Young Pallid Cuckoos are mottled with brown and buff above, with a white spot on the nape, and are streaked with grey-brown and white below. As with other species of cuckoo, its call often betrays its presence long before it is seen.
Similar species: The similar sized Oriental Cuckoo, C. saturatus, has conspicuous black and white barring on the lower breast and belly and is generally darker in plumage. It is also considerably scarcer in Australia.
Distribution: The Pallid Cuckoo is the most widely distributed of the cuckoos and is found throughout Australia.
Habitat: The Pallid Cuckoo inhabits most open forests and woodlands, as well as cleared and cultivated open country.
Feeding: The Pallid Cuckoo has a liking for hairy caterpillars, but will take other insects and their larvae. Prey is spotted from low perch and is pounced on, usually on the ground. Some insects are taken from foliage.
Breeding: The Pallid Cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of honeyeaters, woodswallows, whistlers and flycatchers. Common host species include the Willie Wagtail, Rhipidura leucophrys and the Hooded Robin, Melanodryas cuculatta. The female cuckoo removes one of the host's eggs and replaces it with one of her own. The cuckoo egg usually closely resembles the host egg, and the unsuspecting host hatches it along with its own. The cuckoo egg usually hatches more quickly and the young cuckoo instinctively forces the other eggs (or chicks) out of the nest. The cuckoo rapidly outgrows its 'foster' parents, who frantically search for sufficient food to satisfy the demanding young bird.
Calls: A loud, ascending whistle 'too-too-too..', The call is often repeated incessantly, and gave rise to the name of Brainfever-bird.
Minimum Size: 28cm
Maximum Size: 33cm
Average size: 30cm
Average weight: 89g
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)

© Chris Burns 2018
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All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

Taken in: Australia / Queensland / Barcaldine (show map)

Taken on: December 17, 2015

Tags:

Pallid Cuckoo

Cacomantis pallidus

Australian bird

fauna

Australian fauna

cuckoo

Nikon D750

Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports

Sigma TC-1401 1.4x TELECONVERTER NIK

wildlife

Australian wildlife « less

Sets appears in: • Barcaldine Birds • Birds

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Camera: Nikon D750, f/9.0, 1/100 sec, 750mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	150.0-600.0 mm f/5.0-6.3
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length:	750mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Windows)
Show full info

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