Sunday, June 21, 2020

Bird Watching - Greater Coucal

Greater Coucal



They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. They are weak fliers, and are often seen clambering about in vegetation or walking on the ground as they forage for insects, eggs and nestlings of other birds. 

Local Names : Mahoka (Hindi)
                     Kalli kaka, Chempakam (Tamil)
                     Uppan, Chemboth (Malayalam)


The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. There are no pale shaft streaks on the coverts. The eyes are ruby red. Juveniles are duller black with spots on the crown and there are whitish bars on the underside and tail.


The greater coucal is a large bird which takes a wide range of insects, caterpillars ,snails, lizards and young mice. They are also known to eat bird eggs, nestlings, fruits and seeds.


The nest is built mostly by the male over about three to eight days.The nest is a deep cup with a dome in dense vegetation inside tangles of creepers, bamboo clump or Pandanus crowns. The typical clutch is 3–5 eggs. The eggs are chalky white. eggs hatch after 15–16 days of incubation. Both sexes shares all domestic duties

References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia

Pictures:
Thovampallil House, Chettikulangara, Kerala (2019)



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