Bird Guide

Pheasant Coucal vs White-browed Coucal

Pheasant Coucal (Centropus phasianinus)

Pheasant Coucal

Centropus phasianinus

Large382 gShrubland

50 to 70 cm (20 to 28 in) in length, the pheasant coucal is a large heavy-set bird adapted for living on the ground, reminiscent of a pheasant in shape. Birds in breeding plumage have black heads, necks, breasts and bellies, barred chestnut wings and long black, brown and cream barred tails. Outside the breeding season, their black head and underparts moult to a white-streaked chestnut colour. The pheasant coucal's summer voice is a low descending 'boop boop boop'. Its winter voice is a sharp hissing.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: James Niland from Brisbane, Australia · CC BY 2.0
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: Pheasant Coucal and White-browed Coucal.