Graeme Chapman - natural history photographer - ornithologist

Australian Birds

Pallid Cuckoo
Cuculus pallidus
(Viewing 4 of 8 photos)

Click to listen to sound samples Perhaps the archetypal cuckoo in Australia it belongs to the genus Cuculus, the same as the famous Common Cuckoo of cuckoo-clock fame. The Pallid Cuckoo occurs all over Australia and Tasmania. It is primarily a bird of wide open spaces and only rarely ventures into forests. Unlike the Common Cuckoo it doesn't sing "cuckoo" - the main advertising song is a series of short loud whistles rising gradually up the scale, audible from quite a distance, half a kilometre or so. Adult males are primarily grey of different shades - females are mottled brown on the upperparts.

Pallid Cuckoos parasitise mainly birds that build open cup-shaped nests - honeyeaters, robins, woodswallows and flycatchers.


Photo: 337002

337002 ... Pallid Cuckoo, adult female.

Photo: 337201

337201 ... Pallid Cuckoo, adult male.

Photo: 337203

337203 ... Pallid Cuckoo

Photo: 337205

337205 ... Fledgling Pallid Cuckoo being fed by host, a White-eared Honeyeater.


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