Greater Coucal

The Greater Coucal looks like an eagle and a crow combined together in one bird with a bit of golden brown thrown in. It's red eyes make it menacing to look at.

Identification & Description
The Greater Coucal has a long and straight hind claw, they have a long tail, the head is black, mantle and undertail coverts are black glossed with purple, they are weak in flight. The mantle and wings are chestnut brown. The eyes of the Greater Coucal are ruby red.

The juveniles are dull black with spots on the crown with whitish bars on the tail and the undertail coverts.

The subspecies may have varying songs. The females are larger than the male. The hatchlings have black skin and white hairy feathers forming a fringe over the eye and beak. The center of the belly is pinkish while the upper mandible is black with a pink edge. The iris is brown, gape is yellow and feet are dark brown-grey.

They belong to the Kingdom Animalia, The Phylum is Chordata, The Class is Aves, The Order is Cuculiformes, The Family is Cuculidae, The Genus is Centropus, The Binomial name is Centropus sinensis.

The length of the Greater Coucal is 48 centimeters, they weigh 225 to 400 grams.

Diet
The Greater Coucal consumes insects, caterpillars, snails and small vertebrates like the Saw-scaled vipers, bird eggs, nestlings, fruits like Cascabela thevetia and seeds. They feed on the fleshy mesocarps of the ripe fruits.

Habitat
The Greater Coucal is found in multiple habitats like jungles, cultivation and urban gardens, they are found clambering around for food.

Breeding
The breeding season for the Greater Coucal begins after the monsoon in southern India but mainly June to September.

Greater Coucals mate for life, the courtship rituals include chases on the ground and offering food gifts to the female. The female lowers her tail and droops her wings to accept the male's food gifts.

Nest building is done by the male in three to eight days. It is a deep cup with a dome inside dense vegetation like tangles of creepers, bamboo clump or Pandanus crowns.

The elevation for the nest can be 6 meters above the ground while 3 to 5 eggs or 2 to 4 eggs are laid.

The eggs are 28 to 36 millimeters and weighs 14.8 grams, they are chalky white with a yellow glaze that wears off. The incubation period is 15 to 16 days.

The chicks fledge in 18 to 22 days. Both the parents build the nest. Nests with eggs are sometimes abandoned or marauded by the Indian Jungle Crow 'Corvus Culminatus'.

The sound is a booming low coop-coop-coops repeated with variations and can be duets between individuals. When the female is duetting, she has a lower pitched call. Other calls are a rapid rattling "lotok lotok" and a harsh scolding "skeeaaaw" and a hissing threat call.

Subspecies
The nominate subspecie is found in the Indus Valley through the sub-Himalayan and Gangetic plains, they are found in the foothills of Assam.

Subspecie Centropus sinensis parroti is found in Peninsular India in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and further south. They have glossed blue undertail coverts and forehead, face and throat are brownish when compared to other subspecies. The mantle is black.

Subspecie Centropus sinensis intermedius is smaller in size compared to the nominate subspecie and is found in Assam and west Cachar.

Subspecie Centropus sinensis andamanensis is found in Andaman islands.

The juvenile of Centropus sinensis parroti is unmarked dull black on the undertail coverts and is darker, wings are dusky chestnut. Subspecie Centropus sinensis parroti is similar in size to the Lesser coucal (Centropus bengalensis) but the Lesser coucal has a stubbier bill, short tail, wing tips extending through the tertials and a chestnut wing lining, dark eyes and the tail is green or bronze sheen.

Females of the Subspecie Centropus sinensis parroti acquire dusky or sooty wing coverts in November to January and they are limited to the Punjab plains to the north where it forms intermediates with the subspecies.

Behavior
The Greater Coucal is known to sunbathe in the morning either alone or in pairs at the top of vegetation while spreading their wings. The territory of a nesting pair has been found in southern India to be 0.9 to 7.2 hectare. They are active in the mornings and in the late afternoons.

Diseases
Haemosporidia are found in their red blood cells. Haemoproteus centrop is spread from cuckoos like Clamator jacobinus and Centropus sinensis or by mosquitoes. Immature Haemaphysalis ticks are discovered.

Population
It is unknown but it's Conservation Status is 'Least Concern'.