Channel-billed cuckoo

Channel-billed cuckoo

What are channel-billed cuckoos?

Channel-billed cuckoos, scientifically known as Scythrops novaehollandiae, are the largest species of cuckoo found in Australia. They visit northern and eastern Australia when they are ready to breed and spend the rest of their time in Indonesia and New Guinea. They have a loud call that can be heard throughout the night.

What do channel-billed cuckoos look like?

Channel-billed cuckoos are a large bird growing to 67 centimetres in length with a wingspan of around one metre. Their bellies are pale grey with darker feathers on their wings and back. They have a distinctive red line around their eyes and a long striped tail. One of their most striking features is their large curved beak.

Young birds have speckled buff colouring with brown and grey. 

What do channel-billed cuckoos sound like?

When they are breeding channel-billed cuckoos can spend all night calling to try and find a mate.

Their call sounds like a loud 'kawk' followed by a quieter 'kow, kow, kow'.

Where do channel-billed cuckoos live?

Channel-billed cuckoos live in tall trees in Indonesia, New Guinea and Eastern and Northern Australia.

They prefer eucalypt forests and rainforests that provide lots of food types and nesting sites. Urban areas with large trees and the right kinds of food are also used.

During the breeding season they live in Australia. This occurs from August to October. The non-breeding season is spent in Indonesia or New Guinea. 

What do channel-billed cuckoos eat?

Channel-billed cuckoos are omnivores, which means they eat fruit, seeds and small animals. Their preferred food is fruit such as figs. They will occasionally eat insects, other birds' eggs and chicks.

How do channel-billed cuckoos reproduce and what is their life cycle?

Channel-billed cuckoos are brood parasites.  This means the females will lay one or two eggs in the nests of other large birds like ravens, magpies and currawongs.

Once the cuckoo chick hatches, they are looked after by the host birds that originally built the nest. 

The cuckoo chicks will demand all the food and grow really quickly. The other chicks often die because the cuckoo chicks get all the food.

The host parents will continue to feed the cuckoo chicks until they leave the nest.

Breeding occurs in Australia between August and October.

What adaptations do channel-billed cuckoos have to their environment?

Channel-billed cuckoos have a special beak that is curved downward. Their beak helps them eat different kinds of fruits such as figs and seeds. 

They are a migratory bird. This means they move between countries to find the best food and nesting sites. Channel-billed cuckoos have a large wingspan of around one metre which helps them to travel large distances. 

The grey feathers and patterns of the channel-billed cuckoo's plumage help them hide from predators in trees.

Being a parasitic bird, channel-billed cuckoos have learnt to lay their eggs in other birds' nests so the other birds raise and feed their babies.

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