A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Cacomantis flabelliformis
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a slender cuckoo, 24cm - 28cm in length. Its mournful, descending trill often draws attention to its presence. The adult bird is easily identified by its generally dark slate-grey back and wings, becoming pale rufous below, with a boldly barred black and white under tail. Younger birds are duller and browner in colour. The striking yellow eye ring (slightly greenish in young birds) is clearly visible from quite a distance.
Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, paddocks, orchards and gardens. The Australian range is from Cape York in Queensland following the coast south to Shark Bay in Western Australia. Along the west coast, its range extends no more than 1000km inland. In South Australia the range is along the coast except in the south-east corner around Mount Gambier and the Eyre Peninsula. It also inhabits Tasmania.
Spotted on Jul 10, 2012
Submitted on Jul 10, 2012
3 Comments
Thanks atul!
absolutely correct Alice , cuckoos are brood parasites !
lovely spotting !
Cuckoos will destroy an egg from another birds nest and lay their own in its place. When the cuckoo hatches it pushes the other eggs/chicks out of the nest. The cuckoo's 'foster' parents will then unknowingly raise it as their own chick.