Chestnut-winged Cuckoo vs Levaillant's Cuckoo

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

Clamator coromandus

Medium75 gWoodland

This dark and crested cuckoo has chestnut wings, a glossy black crest and a graduated tail (the feathers shortening in steps from the center outwards) whose terminal edges are white and inconspicuous unlike the white tips of the Jacobin cuckoo which is found in parts of its range. The black capping on the head is broken from black of the back by a white collar that extends to the sides of the neck. The lower parts are rufous turning to dark grey towards the vent. Young birds are dusky with a scaly appearance to the wing feathers.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: sucker69420 · CC BY 4.0

Levaillant's Cuckoo

Clamator levaillantii

Medium122 gGrassland

The cuckoo is 37.5 cm (15 in) long, longer tailed than pied cuckoo, and with a more heavily streaked throat. There are two colour morphs. The light morph is black above, faintly glossed bluish or greenish. The throat streaking may extend on to the sides. The primaries and rectrix tips are white. The dark morph is black except for the white primary patch and white spots on the outer tail feathers (these are absent in dark pied cuckoo.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and Levaillant's Cuckoo.