Bird Guide

Fan-tailed Cuckoo vs Plaintive Cuckoo

Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Cacomantis flabelliformis

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The fan-tailed cuckoo is about 25–27 cm (9.8–10.6 in) long. The fan-tailed cuckoo has a slate-grey head, back and wings, rufous underparts and barred black and white tail. Its eye is surrounded by a yellow orbital eye ring which helps to distinguish it from the smaller and paler brush cuckoo (C. variolosus) and the also smaller chestnut-breasted cuckoo (C. castaneiventris).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Recorded by Richard Fuller · Nocturnal flight call · Carindale, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia · CC0
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0
Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus)

Plaintive Cuckoo

Cacomantis merulinus

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The plaintive cuckoo is fairly small, measuring about 21–24 cm (8.3–9.4 in) long. The adult male is grey-brown above and orange below with a grey head, throat and upper breast. The tail feathers have white tips. The legs and feet are yellow, the eye is red and the bill is black above and yellow below. The adult female is sometimes similar to the male but often occurs in a "hepatic" morph. This form is reddish-brown above with dark bars. The underparts are paler with fainter barring. There is a pale stripe over the eye and the tail has dark bars along its whole length.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Plaintive Cuckoo
Recorded by Michael Frankenstein · Aberrant, call, duet, song · Bali, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Adam Kamal · 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: Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Plaintive Cuckoo.