The pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') is a species of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

in the family Cuculidae. It is found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, with some migration to the islands of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is between 28 and 33 cm in size, with distinctive markings such as a dark bill, a dark eye with a gold eye-ring and olive grey feet which differentiate it from other cuckoos. The pallid cuckoo is similar in appearance to the

oriental cuckoo The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfields cuckoo (''Cuculus optatus'') is a bird belonging to the genus ''Cuculus'' in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo (''C. saturatus''), with the name 'Orie ...

(''Cuculus optatus''), with barred immature pallid cuckoos being often mistaken for oriental cuckoos.

Taxonomy

English ornithologist John Latham described the pallid cuckoo in 1801 as ''Columba pallida'' "pale pigeon". Sources differ in the genera placement of this species. It is commonly placed in ''

Cuculus ''Cuculus'' is a genus of cuckoos which has representatives in most of the Old World, although the greatest diversity is in tropical southern and southeastern Asia. Taxonomy The genus ''Cuculus'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist ...

'', but genetic evidence and its song support its placement in '' Cacomantis'', with its closest relative the

white-crowned cuckoo The white-crowned cuckoo or white-crowned koel (''Cacomantis leucolophus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was originally described by Salomon Müller as ''Cuculus leucolophus''. It was later placed in the monotypic genus ''Ca ...

(''Cacomantis leucolophus''). "Pallid cuckoo" has been designated the official name by the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC). Other common names include unadorned cuckoo, semitone-bird, scale-bird, and brain-fever bird—from its monotonous repetitive call.

Description

Characteristics of the appearance of the pallid cuckoo include: a dark bill, a dark eye with a gold eye-ring, a shadowy dark mark from the eye down the neck, a white (or buff) mark on the nape, olive grey feet and prominent white (or buff) toothing along the tail. In flight, there are conspicuous white and dark bars across the long tail. Its silhouette resembles a falcon and often triggers alarm calls from

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s. The pallid cuckoo can have various morphs including light rufous morph or dark rufous morph. In adult males the upperparts including head and neck are grey-brown and have large spots on wing-coverts. In adult females the light-rufous morph is similar to the adult male however with the dark rufous morph the hind neck patch extends onto mantle and it has barring on the chest. A distinguishing feature of the family Cuculidae are the feet, which are zygodactyl, meaning that the two inner toes point forward and the two outer point backward.

Distribution and habitat

The pallid cuckoo is widely distributed throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania. It spends the winter months in central inland Australia and the Northern Territory. The cuckoo then migrates to South East Australia's coastal region and Tasmania, arriving generally around September or October, sometimes earlier. It has also been observed that migration occasionally occurs to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea in the winter months. It is a rare vagrant to New Zealand. The pallid cuckoo has been observed in various different habitats such as in

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

, pastoral country, farmland, golf courses and gardens. However it prefers lightly timbered country with trees and shrubs and a sparse under-story where it can best hunt for prey.

Diet

The pallid cuckoo predates primarily on insects such as caterpillars, by hopping down from vantage points to seize their prey either on trees or in the grass. It prefers to eat hairy caterpillars.

Breeding

Breeding of the pallid cuckoo occurs between July and December. The pallid cuckoo is a generalist

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

. Brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species, abandoning their egg and leaving it to the care of the host bird whose nest it is in. If the host does not detect the intrusion and subsequently reject the egg it will raise the resulting chick as its own. It is recorded to have exploited over 100 different species of

s, though all major hosts belong to the family Meliphagidae. Common host species include

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...

s, Australasian robins and willy wagtails.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1119575

pallid cuckoo The pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 cm ...

Birds of Australia

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN