Lesser Coucal

Centropus bengalensis

The Lesser Coucal is a large (39 cm), long-tailed bird with a black head, underparts and tail, and a chestnut brown mantle and wings with faint pale streaking.  The iris is reddish brown, the bill and legs are black.  Immature birds are rufous-brown above with extensive streaking on the head and neck, black barring on the back, wings and tail and a whitish belly.

The Lesser Coucal prefers scrubby areas, grassland, marshes, bamboo thickets and  cultivated areas.  It is a secretive bird, preferring to stay in cover, and flying only short distances when disturbed.  It usually hunts on the ground and feeds on insects such as grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, beetles and caterpillars as well as spiders, lizards and fruit.  Its calls include a series of deep hollow “hoop” notes, increasing in tempo and decreasing in pitch, and a series of harsher “kurook, kurook, kurook” notes.

The nest of the Lesser Coucal is a domed oval structure of twigs, leaves and grass with a side entrance, placed near the ground in dense vegetation.  The female lays 2-4 chalky white eggs, and both sexes incubate them and tend the young. 

The Lesser Coucal is resident year-round in Taiwan from the plains to low elevations.

References:  Handbook of Birds of the World Vol. 4; A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Mackinnon and Phillipps); 100 Common Birds of Taiwan (Wild Bird Society of Taipei)