Coppery-tailed coucal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Coppery-tailed coucal |
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| Matetsi Safari Area, Zimbabwe | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Centropus |
| Species: |
C. cupreicaudus
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| Binomial name | |
| Centropus cupreicaudus Reichenow, 1896
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The coppery-tailed coucal (scientific name: Centropus cupreicaudus) is a type of cuckoo bird. It belongs to the Cuculidae family, which includes all cuckoos. You can find this bird in several countries in Africa, such as Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A German bird expert named Anton Reichenow first described this bird in 1896.
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About the Coppery-tailed Coucal
An adult coppery-tailed coucal is about 48 centimeters (19 inches) long. It has a beak that curves downwards and a long, wide tail. Male coucals are usually a little smaller than females.
This bird looks a lot like the Senegal coucal. It has a black head and black feathers on its back and wings. Its belly is white or cream-colored. The lower back feathers have a shiny, coppery look, and its tail is dark brownish-black. Young coucals have light streaks on their heads. Their flight feathers also have stripes. The coppery-tailed coucal makes a deep, bubbling sound.
Where Coppery-tailed Coucals Live
The coppery-tailed coucal lives in parts of south-central Africa. Its home range stretches from Angola in the west. It goes all the way to southwestern Tanzania, northern Botswana, and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia.
These birds usually live in swamps and thick plants near rivers. You can also find them in flooded areas and near lakes that appear only during certain seasons. The total area where they live is very large, about 1,750,000 square kilometers (676,000 square miles).
How Coppery-tailed Coucals Behave
Coppery-tailed coucals protect their territory all year round. They are most active early in the morning, right after the sun comes up, and in the evening.
They look for food on the ground. Their diet includes small animals like frogs, fish, small birds, lizards, and rodents. They also eat insects and other small creatures such as grasshoppers, crabs, and snails. Sometimes, they eat dead fish or other edible things they find. They even eat some green plants. These birds are strong enough to tear open the nests of weaver birds. They have also been known to swallow blue quail whole!
The breeding season for these birds is from January to March. Scientists believe that coppery-tailed coucals stay with one partner for life (monogamous). They build a dome-shaped nest using grasses, pieces of reeds, and small twigs. They line the inside with leaves. The nest is usually built low down among reeds or in thick plants near the water. Both parents help build the nest and care for the young. However, the male might do more of the work.
A female coucal lays two to four eggs. Incubation (keeping the eggs warm) starts as soon as the first egg is laid. Sometimes, this happens even before the nest is fully finished. The eggs hatch one by one, over a few days. Both parents feed the chicks, giving them food like frogs and locusts. The young birds leave the nest when they are about seventeen days old. Sometimes, they leave even before they can fly well.
Conservation Status
The coppery-tailed coucal lives across a very large area. Even though we don't know the exact number of these birds, they are common in some places. Their population seems to be stable, meaning it's not going down. Because of this, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the coppery-tailed coucal as a species of "Least concern". This means they are not currently at risk of disappearing.
 | Frances Mary Albrier |
 | Whitney Young |
 | Muhammad Ali |
