Centropus senegalensis.
This common coucal exists in two colour varieties, normal and dark. The former can be confused with the rarer Blue-headed Coucal.
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Senegal Coucal. Centropus senegalensis. This common coucal exists in two colour varieties, normal and dark. The former can be confused with the rarer Blue-headed Coucal. |
| Recognition: Medium large with long tail. The normal bird has black crown (not deep blue), black tail, red-brown back and wings and is pure to buffish-white below. The dark variety has black head and throat, most other parts red-brown. |
| Distribution:. The normal type is found throughout West Africa, except high forest; the dark type is known only from Ghana to southern Nigeria. |
| Habits: Solitary, in pairs or small parties. A reather skulking bird, more often heard than seen. Clumsy in flight it seems to lose its balance when alighting. It has a curious habit of extending one wing and remaining posed, then darting forward to catch an insect on the ground. The species builds are large dome nests of grass near to the ground. The two varieties interbreed. |
| Call: A variety of notes, the most characteristic call is a descending "Coo-coo-coo-coo-coo", suggesting water poured from a bottle. |
