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Very large, primarily ground-based cuckoo.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Adults are streaked rusty brown in nonbreeding plumage. In breeding plumage the head and front are black. They can fly, but are more typically seen running/flapping across roads, or clumsily crashing into dense vegetation.
Unlike many cuckoos this species builds its own nest and does not lay eggs in nests of other species. Voice is a familiar repeated ‘whoop,’ and a screeching cat-like hiss.
Gallery