Pachycoccyx audeberti
SUBFAMILY
Cuculinae
TAXONOMY
Cuculus audeberti Schlegel, 1879, Madagascar. Three subspecies
recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Coucou d’Audebert; German: Dickschnabelkuckuck;
Spanish: Crialo Piquigrueso.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
14.2 in (36 cm), 0.23 lb (115 g). Adult gray above, lores white,
wings blackish, tail barred brown and black; white below; eye
ring yellow, iris brown. Bill blackish or yellow. Its appearance
and call, “Ooy-yes-yes,” are reminiscent of a hawk.
DISTRIBUTION
Sierra Leone through Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon to
Congo and Zaire, Kenya and Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
and Mozambique. P. a. audeberti confined to Madagascar.
HABITAT
Miombo woodlands, lowlands, and riverine forests.
BEHAVIOR
Non-migratory, or with local movements.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects, mainly hairy caterpillars.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Brood parasitic; hosts are African shrikes (Prionops). Incubation
13 days, nestlings evict host eggs and chicks. Fledges in 28
days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not globally threatened, uncommon to rare.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
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