Burchell's Coucal ( Centropus burchellii, family: centropodidae)

Burchell's Coucal kruger national park.gif The Burchell's Coucal (Latin name Centropus burchellii) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 391 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 220 also a picture of the Burchell's Coucal on page 209. The Burchell's Coucal belongs to the family of birds classified as centropodidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Burchell's Coucal is also known by these other names: White-browed Coucal.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Burchell's Coucal is a near endemic species and depends upon a certain type of habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird becomes endangered.

The bird is well distributed throughout the Kruger.

Kruger Park Burchell's CoucalIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Burchell's Coucal is a bird about the size of a Francolin now called Spurfowl. The height of the Burchell's Coucal is about 41 cms and its weight is about 180 gms

The male and female Burchell's Coucal have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is red.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is brown.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are blue, grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Burchell's Coucal feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Smaller animals

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

 The Burchell's Coucal is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Centropus burchellii will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Burchell's Coucal is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Burchell's Coucal are: woodlands and grasslands

You will normally see the Burchell's Coucal by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ubikhwe

Zulu ... uFukwe/umGugwane

Afrikaans ...Gewone Vleiloerie

German ... Tiputip

Portuguese ... Cucal de Burchell

French ... Coucal de Burchell

Dutch ... Burrchell-Spoorkoekoek Burrchell'S

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 391

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za