Greater Black Coucal Centropus menbeki Scientific name definitions

60–67 cm; race jobiensis male 480 g and female 553 g, race menbeki male 293 g. Adult huge, glossy black  , with long tail, iris red, bill whitish with black base, legs black. Juvenile dull, blackish, with narrow rufous bars at base of tail, iris tan or orange. Race menbeki darker above, smaller; aruensis dark purplish black above; jobiensis less purplish, more greenish.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Forest, forest edge, shrub and lower middle storeys. Sea-level to 800 m.

Resident.

Small vertebrates (snakes, frogs, small birds), arthropods, large insects (grasshoppers, cicadas, caterpillars). Feeds on ground, where movements clumsy, and in vines; hops up tree trunks, switching tail from side to side.

Low-pitched, resonant booming hoots in staccato; single-note “oodle” , also pairs of “hoo hoo”, and descending series of “Uh-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oh”; a grunt followed by a dry rattle. Calls at night.

Oviduct egg in Apr; recently fledged young Jan, Oct. Nest a large mass of leaves, in pandanus, in wet season. Oviduct egg white; 37 x 30 mm.

Not globally threatened. A widely distributed species in New Guinea, but apparently uncommon throughout. Approximate density estimated at 1 bird/10 ha.