Walking through the Aussie bush, I’m sometimes intrigued by a musical trill coming from the hidden depths of the forest. The sound starts high and drops rapidly down the scale to a lower pitch. Today, for the first time, I managed to spot the bird that makes this lovely noise: a Fan-tailed Cuckoo:

At first I thought it couldn’t be a cuckoo, because don’t all cuckoos leave for warmer climes when winter arrives on the Australian east coast? Evidently not. For the most part, Fan-tailed Cuckoos brave the cold weather, although those in Tasmania do move north into the mainland.

Here’s the cuckoo caught in mid trill:

Like other cuckoos, these birds lay their eggs in the nests of other species. Fan-tailed Cuckoos choose fairy-wrens and thornbills as their hosts. Such small little parents to raise a cuckoo!

Here’s another shot of the bird, this time with its beak closed:

This particular bird has a lovely rich coloring. Other photos I’ve seen show less orange in the chest feathers, and a lighter grey on the head and back.

Singing again:

Fan-tailed Cuckoos feed on insects. Typical behaviour is to sit high up on a branch then swoop down when a meal crawls or flutters into view. Here’s a non-zoomed-in view of the bird:

Common name: Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Scientific name: Cacomantis flabelliformis

Approximate length: 26 cm

Date spotted: 13 June 2020 (winter)

Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’29.5″S 151°14’46.3″E