Centropus superciliosus
The White-browed Coucal, Centropus superciliosus, is a distinctive non-parasitic cuckoo, easily identified by its striking white supercilium (eyebrow) contrasting with an otherwise glossy black head and body. Measuring approximately 36-42 cm (14-17 in) in length and weighing 170-220g (6-8 oz), its prominent field marks also include chestnut-brown wings, a long, graduated black tail, and piercing red eyes. It belongs to the family Cuculidae, but unlike most cuckoos, it builds its own nest and ...
Primarily found in dense, thorny scrub, tall grassland with scattered bushes, reedbeds, and thickets along wetlands, rivers, and forest edges, typically at low to moderate elevations up to 2,000 meters.
Feeds primarily on large insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and termites, supplemented by small vertebrates including lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents, and even eggs and nestlings; it forages almost exclusively on the ground.
The White-browed Coucal is largely diurnal, often secretive and spending most of its time on or close to the ground, though it will ascend bushes to sunbathe or call. It forages by walking stealthily through dense undergrowth, rummaging through leaf litter and vegetation to snatch prey. Territori...
The White-browed Coucal boasts an extensive and robust distribution across much of sub-Saharan Africa, extending into the Arabian Peninsula. Its core breeding range encompasses countries from Mauritania and Senegal in the west, eastward through the Sahel and Horn of Africa, and southwards across ...
Least Concern
- The White-browed Coucal is one of the "non-parasitic cuckoos," meaning it builds its own nest and raises its young, a rare trait within the cuckoo family. - Its distinctive bubbling call, which accelerates to sound like water pouring from a bottle, is one of the iconic sounds of the African bus...