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Family
Cuculidae
Genus
Chrysococcyx
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Long-billed Cuckoo Chrysococcyx megarhynchus Scientific name definitions

Robert B. Payne
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 1997

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

18 cm; 31 g. Adult male dark brown above, head black, dull greyish brown below; eye-ring and iris red, long bill black with drooping tip. Female dark cinnamon above, head dark grey-brown; breast and belly rufous buff and finely barred, lower breast cinnamon; iris dark brown with narrow cream outer ring. Juvenile cinnamon above, face pale grey and brown, eye-ring dark, iris dark brown. Race sanfordi female said to have breast greyer, contrasting with rufous belly; male undescribed.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Previously placed in monotypic genus Rhamphomantis, but genetic data group it with members of present genus (1); has alternatively been included in Chrysococcyx. Proposed race sanfordi (Waigeo) known only from one female specimen, apparently similar to others on mainland New Guinea; juvenile and subadult plumages of this species have only recently begun to be understood, and race sanfordi probably best rejected meantime. Monotypic.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Chrysococcyx megarhynchus megarhynchus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Aru Islands and New Guinea
SUBSPECIES

Chrysococcyx megarhynchus sanfordi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Waigeo I. (off n New Guinea)

Distribution

W Papuan Is (Waigeo, Misool), Aru Is and New Guinea (Vogelkop and interior of N coast E to Kumusi R; also upper Fly R and Port Moresby area).

Habitat

Tall forests (c. 70 m high) and openings in them; occurs in lowlands.

Movement

Unknown.

Diet and Foraging

Insects, mainly caterpillars, also flying ants. Gleans prey from foliage, branches or bark.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Loud, distinct trill, a descending series of evenly spaced notes, lasting 4 sec, and repeated at 5sec intervals.

Breeding

Unknown. Female with egg in oviduct ready to lay in Sept.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Species is generally rare and local; because of its restricted range, it has in the past been considered near-threatened. Extensive research required on biology, ecology and population sizes of this unusual species.
Distribution of the Long-billed Cuckoo - Range Map
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  • Migration
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Distribution of the Long-billed Cuckoo

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Payne, R. B. (2020). Long-billed Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx megarhynchus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.lobcuc1.01
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