The buff-headed coucal (''Centropus milo'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

coucal A coucal is one of about 30 species of birds in the cuckoo Family (biology), family. All of them belong in the subfamily Centropodinae and the genus ''Centropus''. Unlike many Old World cuckoos, coucals are not brood parasites, though they do hav ...

. These are often placed in the cuckoo

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(

Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are someti ...

) but seem to warrant recognition as a distinct family. ''C. milo'' is a common

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

of the central islands of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is tropical moist lowland and mountain

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, mostly in primary and secondary growth. This species is a large cuckoo with a heavy bill and short wings. In total length, this species may measure . With a body mass of , this may be not only the largest coucal, apparently outweighing other very large coucals like the goliath coucal, but possibly the largest of all

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

s, with a slightly higher cited weight than even the

channel-billed cuckoo The channel-billed cuckoo (''Scythrops novaehollandiae'') is a species of cuckoo in the family cuckoo, Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Scythrops''.Payne (2005), p. 380. The species is the largest brood parasite in the world, and the ...

, usually considered the world's largest cuckoo. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

of adults is striking with a buff head, upper back and undersides, and glossy black wings, lower back and tail. The iris is red and legs and bill are dark grey. Juveniles are very differently colored, with the wings and tail reddish brown with black barring somewhat like in the

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

pheasant coucal The pheasant coucal (''Centropus phasianinus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Timor and New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical man ...

, and the rest of the plumage brown mottled with black. The iris is brown-grey and the bill is bicolored, brown above and pale horn below. In local languages, the adult and juvenile are treated as different kinds of bird and each has a name of its own. For example, in Touo,

Roviana Roviana is a member of the North West Solomonic branch of Oceanic languages. It is spoken around Roviana and Vonavona lagoons at the north central New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. It has 10,000 first-language speakers and an additional 16,00 ...

and Marovo, the adult is called ''mozu'', ''nao'' and ''ao'', respectively, while the names for the juveniles are ''sagaza'', ''sengenge'' and ''chehohu''.Read & Moseby (2006)

Footnotes

References

* Doughty, Chris; Day, Nicolas & Plant, Andrew (1999): ''Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, wh ...

, London. * Read, John L. & Moseby, Katherine (2006): Vertebrates of Tetepare Island, Solomon Islands. ''Pacific Science'' 60(1): 69–79. DOI: 10.2984/1534-6188(2006)60 9:VOTISI.0.CO;2HTML abstract
{{Taxonbar, from=Q514907

buff-headed coucal The buff-headed coucal (''Centropus milo'') is a species of coucal. These are often placed in the cuckoo family (biology), family (Cuculidae) but seem to warrant recognition as a distinct family. ''C. milo'' is a common Endemism, endemic of the ...

Birds of the Western Province (Solomon Islands) Birds of Guadalcanal

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot