Family Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Least Concern
Red-capped Coua (Coua ruficeps)
Taxonomy
French: Coua à tête rousse German: Rostkappen-Seidenkuckuck Spanish: Cúa capirrojo
Taxonomy:
Coua ruficeps
G. R. Gray
, 1846,Madagascar
.Distribution:
W Madagascar from Analalava W & S to Soalala, near Morondava.
Descriptive notes
42 cm; 186–204 g. Adult pale greenish brown above becoming glossy or bronzy green on scapulars and wing-coverts (or greyish green on median and lesser coverts) and dull... read more
Voice
Song variously described as a short “whrioouu cou cou”, the initial note whirring and... read more
Habitat
Dry deciduous forest (including degraded areas), wooded savanna, second growth, gallery forest on... read more
Food and feeding
Comparatively few data, even compared to formerly conspecific C. olivaceiceps. Diet comprises largely arthropods (mainly... read more
Breeding
Breeds Oct–Apr. Site fidelity, to same general territory, apparently strong. Nest a shallow bowl of thin branches, bark and creepers... read more
Movements
Resident, but some variation in territory size, e.g. in dry forest at Ampijoroa, average was 4·3 ha... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. The only common terrestrial coua species in degraded wooded habitats. Rather restricted range, but species is apparently relatively adaptable to some... read more
As suggested in HBW, traditional treatment of C. olivaceiceps as conspecific with present species open to question, on grounds that both taxa were collected at Mampikohy in Dec, in the breeding season; here treated as two species. Monotypic.