Bird Guide

Lesser Coucal vs Senegal Coucal

Lesser Coucal (Centropus bengalensis)

Lesser Coucal

Centropus bengalensis

Medium149 gGrassland

This slightly smaller-sized and shorter-billed coucal has a very long hind claw, the longest within the genus. The overall plumage, as in many other coucals, is of a blackish bird with a long tail and rufous wings. They have two plumages, a breeding plumage in which the head and upper back are glossy with dark shafts to the feather and a duller non-breeding plumage in which the feather shafts on the head and back are whitish. The wing coverts also have pale shafts showing as whitish streaks on the brown feathers. The central upper tail coverts are barred and very long.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Lesser Coucal
Recorded by Mike Prince · Call · Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hari K Patibanda · CC BY 2.0
Senegal Coucal (Centropus senegalensis)

Senegal Coucal

Centropus senegalensis

Medium169 gShrubland

This is a medium-sized species at 39 cm (15 in) in length. Its crown, nape and upper parts, bill, legs and long tail are black, the eyes are red, the wings are chestnut, and the underparts are creamy white, with blackish barring on the flanks. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are browner and more heavily barred above, with buff to cinnamon, barred and streaked underparts.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Thom Haslam, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Lesser Coucal and Senegal Coucal.