Bird Guide

Banded Bay Cuckoo vs Sahul Brush Cuckoo

Banded Bay Cuckoo (Cacomantis sonneratii)

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Cacomantis sonneratii

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The adults are bright rufous or bay on the head and back and are broadly barred with dark brown. The bill is long and slightly curved. A whitish supercilium is distinctive above a dark eye-line. The wing is darker and tail is graduated with a dark brown centre. The tail has a subterminal black band and white tips to the feathers. The sexes are alike. The iris is yellow and the bill is black while the base of the lower mandible is greenish grey. The tarsi are grey. The juvenile is similar but has a pale lower mandible and white fringes to the feathers of the upper body.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Banded Bay Cuckoo
Recorded by Sudipto Roy · Call · Kankrajhore, India · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mike Prince · CC BY 2.0
Sahul Brush Cuckoo (Cacomantis variolosus)

Sahul Brush Cuckoo

Cacomantis variolosus

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The Sahul brush cuckoo is about 22–26 cm (8.7–10.2 in) long. The plumage of adult males and females is similar. The head is pale grey, the breast is buff, the back is grey-brown, and the underside of the tail is brown with white tips and bars. The eye has a narrow, pale ring around it, and the feet are olive-pink. Juvenile plumage is heavily barred dark brown. The wings are sharply pointed and backswept in flight. Underwings are grey-brown with pale buff underwing coverts and a white or pale buff bar.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ged Tranter · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Banded Bay Cuckoo and Sahul Brush Cuckoo.