Sahul Brush Cuckoo
Cacomantis variolosus ‡
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0273 20200801 - male: buff belly to undertail. CLICK to zoom.
Notes: Nominate ssp variolosus is smaller, shorter tail,
than Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Upper parts,
breast, brownish grey, w. grey eye-ring. Head light grey. Male: belly to
undertail coverts buff.
Female: polymorphic – barred & unbarred;
only undertail coverts buff. Juvenile: coarse dark
mottling. In N of range,
smaller, sedentary. Brood parasite. Summers in SE Aust., migrates to
New Guinea for winter.
Range from eBird©(last 10 years)
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0925 20200803 - female: no buff on belly. CLICK to zoom.
Yorky's Knob golfcourse, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_6028 20260111 - - adult.
Hasties Swamp NP, Atherton, FNE Qld IMG_0955 20180406 - female intermediate barred morph.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0911 20200803 - male: buff extends higher.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_9492 20161008 - juvenile. CLICK for an immature w. some retained juvenile secondaries: 20200803.
Atkinson's Lagoon Reserve, Coominya, SE Qld IMG_2811 20220325 - - variolosus immature: some retained juvenilesecondaries. CLICK for another of these.
Adelaide River, (S of Darwin), N NT IMG_6153 20160717 - smaller in N of range.
Sandy Billabong, Kakadu, NE NT IMG_3101..3105 20180725 - Male: buff belly to undertail coverts, eating a caterpillar.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_0274 20200801 - male
Baker's Bend, S of Charleville, SC Qld MVI_0634 20161012 - female
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_99636 20161008 - female