Bird Guide

Greater Coucal vs White-browed Coucal

Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis)

Greater Coucal

Centropus sinensis

Medium281 gWoodland

This is a large species of cuckoo at 48 cm. The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. There are no pale shaft streaks on the coverts. The eyes are ruby red. Juveniles are duller black with spots on the crown and there are whitish bars on the underside and tail. There are several geographic races and some of these populations are sometimes treated as full species. Earlier treatments included the brown coucal (C. (s.) andamanensis) under this name.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Greater Coucal
Recorded by Manoj Karingamadathil · Call · Ezhome, Kannur, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Kingshuk Mondal · CC BY 4.0
White-browed Coucal (Centropus superciliosus)

White-browed Coucal

Centropus superciliosus

Medium148 gWetland

The white-browed coucal is a medium-sized species growing to 36 to 42 cm (14 to 17 in) in length. The sexes are similar, adults having a blackish crown and nape, a white supercilium, rufous-brown back, chestnut wings, blackish rump and black tail, glossed with green, with a white tip. The underparts are creamy-white, the eyes red, the beak black, and the legs and feet greyish-black or black. Juveniles have rufous streaking on the crown, a faint buff supercilium, barred upper parts and darker underparts.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Greater Coucal and White-browed Coucal.