Deep, hollow resonant booming; powerful low notes carrying through dense humid Southeast Asian forest.
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Geographic Range & Migration
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Conservation Status Comparison
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Conservation Status
Least Concern
Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo
Least Concern
Thick-billed Cuckoo
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Identification Tips — How to Tell Them Apart
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How to Tell Them Apart
Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo
Plumage
Pheasant Coucal: dark glossy black head and body; rufous-brown wings; strongly barred dark tail; reddish eye; terrestrial habits
Thick-billed Cuckoo
Plumage
Long-tailed Koel: males blue-black; females barred brown; very long tail; red eye; Pacific island koel; strongly dimorphic
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About Each Bird (Descriptions)
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Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo (Neomorphus rufipennis) — 46–50 cm. Bronze-green above; rufous wing panels; pale buff below. Found in humid forest of Venezuela, Guyana, and northern Brazil. Non-parasitic; follows army ants. Insectivore and small vertebrate predator. Rarely encountered; Near Threatened.
Thick-billed Cuckoo (Pachycoccyx audeberti) — 32–36 cm. Hawk-like; dark brown above; white below with fine dark streaking; thick, strongly curved bill. Inhabits woodland and savanna of East and Central Africa from Tanzania to Malawi and Mozambique. Brood parasite targeting helmet-shrikes (Prionops). Insectivore. Rare and locally distributed.
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Related Comparisons
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More Birds in Family
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