Black cuckoo

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Black cuckoo
Illustration of the black cuckoo (Centropus menbeki)

Illustration of the black cuckoo ( Centropus menbeki )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes)
Family : Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Subfamily : Spur cuckoo (Centropodinae)
Genre : Spur cuckoo ( Centropus )
Type : Black cuckoo
Scientific name
Centropus menbeki
Lesson & Garnot , 1828

The black cuckoo ( Centropus menbeki ) belongs to the order of the cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes) and to the family of the cuckoos (Cuculidae).

The black cuckoo occurs in New Guinea and neighboring small islands and is a resident bird. Like many species of cuckoo, it is not an obligatory brood parasite and raises its offspring itself. There are two subspecies.

The stock situation of the black cuckoo was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” = “not endangered”.

features

The black cuckoo reaches a body length of 60 to 69 centimeters and is therefore one of the large cuckoos. The tail is almost 37 centimeters in the male and around 36 centimeters in the female. The beak has an average length of 5 centimeters in both sexes. They weigh a little more than 500 grams.

There is no gender dimorphism apart from the slight differences in size . Both sexes are shiny brown-black to blue-green on the upper side of the body and from the chin to the chest. The belly is matt black-brown. The tail is broad and tiered.

Young birds are more dull in color than the adult birds. On the back, the feathers have dark brown feather tips. The iris is red, the males of the young birds have a white to light gray iris, the females an orange to brown one. The beak is ivory to horn-colored. The base of the beak is dark.

The subspecies Centropus menbeki aruensis (Salvadori, 1878), which occurs only on the Aru Islands south of New Guinea , differs from the nominate form only in that the upper surface of the body has a blue-violet sheen. The beak is also more curved.

Possible confusion

There are several other cuckoos in the distribution area with which the black cuckoo can be confused. The purple cuckoo found in New Britain and New Ireland is larger. Its plumage shines purple. The succinic devil , which occurs in West and Central Guinea, is one third smaller and has a darker beak. The pheasant spur cuckoo also has a darker beak, is browner overall and is rarely found in forests.

distribution and habitat

The nominate form occurs in New Guinea and the offshore islands of Misool , Salawati , Batanta , Yapen and Numfor . The subspecies C. m. aruensis is limited in its distribution to the Indonesian archipelago of the Ari Islands, which is about 150 km south of New Guinea in the Arafura Sea .

The habitat is primary and secondary forest . Black cuckoos prefer to stay at the edges of forests and small monsoon forests in the savannah. The altitude distribution ranges from the lowlands to altitudes of 1300 meters. However, they are most often found below an altitude of 800 meters.

Way of life

The way of life of the black cuckoo has not yet been conclusively investigated. It can usually be seen as a single bird as it often calls in a duet, but it is likely that it lives in pairs and / or is a territorial bird. It prefers to stay in places with dense foliage, but occasionally also comes to the forest floor. Its food is large insects, including caterpillars, as is the case with most cuckoos. It also eats short-antennae terrors and cicadas, small birds, smaller snakes and frogs.

The nests are large and made of leaves. However, the exact breeding period is not known. However, newly fledged black cuckoos were observed in October and January.

Trivia

The specific epithet menbeki does not honor explorers or scientists, but is the corruption of "Menebeki", a New Guinea name for this bird.

literature

  • Johannes Erhitzøe, Clive F. Mann, Frederik P. Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-7136-6034-0 .

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Centropus menbeki in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International , 2016. Retrieved on October 10, 2017th
  2. ↑ a b c d Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World. P. 147.
  3. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 148.
  4. ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins: Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds . Christopher Helm, London 2003, ISBN 0-7136-6647-1 , pp. 205 .

Web links

Commons : Black Cuckoo ( Centropus menbeki )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files