Pallid Cuckoo
Male, white patch on nape
Ellura
Pallid Cuckoo
Male, tail fanned out
 
                      
Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves)
Order: Cuckoos (Cuculiformes)
Family: Cuckoo (Cuculidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus)
This Photo:     Male, orange mouth

Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Flinders Ranges and elsewhere
When we first spotted this on Ellura we weren't sure what it was. Having only recently discovered a Black-eared cuckoo it looked very similar, but way too big.
It has a dark striped through the eye and no barring on the breast. Grey / brown back and a similar tail to the Fan-tail cuckoo.
Males are grey, with no barring. Females are rufous and can be barred. We suspect she'll look like a completely different species.

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 24-Jul-2014
This species is classed as NT (Near Threatened) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)