Brush Cuckoo
Cacomantis variolosus
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0273 20200801 - variolosus 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. Ssp dumetorum
smaller, sedentary. Brood parasite. Ssp variolosus spends summer
in SE
Aust., migrates to New Guinea for winter.
Range from eBird©(last 10 years. modified)
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0925 20200803 - variolosus female: no buff on belly. CLICK to zoom.
Green Island, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_2115 20231109 - - variolosus adult.
Hasties Swamp NP, Atherton, FNE Qld IMG_0955 20180406 - variolosus female intermediate barred morph.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FNE Qld IMG_0911 20200803 - variolosus male: buff extends higher.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_9492 20161008 - - variolosus juvenile. CLICK for an immature w. some retainedjuvenile 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 - dumetorum: smaller.
Sandy Billabong, Kakadu, NE NT IMG_3101..3105 20180725 - dumetorum: smaller. Male: buff belly to undertail coverts,eating a caterpillar.
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_0274 20200801 - variolosus male
Baker's Bend, S of Charleville, SC Qld MVI_0634 20161012 - variolosus female
Tyto Wetlands, Ingham, FN Qld IMG_99636 20161008 - variolosus female