Coucals
Centropus
A coucal is one of about 30 species of birds in the cuckoo family. All of them belong in the subfamily Centropodinae and the genus Centropus. Unlike many Old World cuckoos, coucals are not brood parasites, though they do have their own reproductive peculiarity: all members of the genus are (to varying degrees) sex-role reversed, so that the smaller male provides most of the parental care. Male pheasant coucals (Centropus phasianinus) invest in building the nest, incubate for the most part and take a major role in feeding the young. At least one coucal species, the black coucal, is polyandrous.
30 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 28 known species
Greater Coucal
speciesCentropus sinensis
Pheasant Coucal
speciesCentropus phasianinus
Burchell's Coucal
speciesCentropus burchellii
Lesser Coucal
speciesCentropus bengalensis
White-browed Coucal
speciesCentropus superciliosus
Senegal Coucal
speciesCentropus senegalensis
Madagascar Coucal
speciesCentropus toulou
Coppery-tailed Coucal
speciesCentropus cupreicaudus
Blue-headed Coucal
speciesCentropus monachus
Philippine Coucal
speciesCentropus viridis
Black Coucal
speciesCentropus grillii
Sunda Coucal
speciesCentropus nigrorufus
Green-billed Coucal
speciesCentropus chlororhynchos
Andaman Coucal
speciesCentropus andamanensis
Bay Coucal
speciesCentropus celebensis
Black-faced Coucal
speciesCentropus melanops
Goliath Coucal
speciesCentropus goliath
Lesser Black Coucal
speciesCentropus bernsteini
Black-throated Coucal
speciesCentropus leucogaster
Rufous Coucal
speciesCentropus unirufus
Pied Coucal
speciesCentropus ateralbus
Gabon Coucal
speciesCentropus anselli
Greater Black Coucal
speciesCentropus menbeki
Buff-headed Coucal
speciesCentropus milo
Short-toed Coucal
speciesCentropus rectunguis
Violaceous Coucal
speciesCentropus violaceus
Biak Coucal
speciesCentropus chalybeus
Centropus colossus
speciesCentropus colossus
Centropus burchellii × superciliosus
hybridCentropus burchellii × superciliosus
Black-hooded Coucal
speciesCentropus steerii
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Centropus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1628.