Ground cuckooshrike

Coracina maxima

Photo by Russel Jenkins (Bird Forum)

Common name:
ground cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-da-terra (pt); échenilleur terrestre (fr); oruguero terrestre (es); grundraupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Australia, being found throughout the Australian mainland, but especially in the interior.

Size:
These birds are 31-38 cm long and weigh 124-155 g.

Habitat:
The ground cuckooshrike is found in open, dry habitats, including dry scrublands and grasslands, sparse dry savannas and Eucalyptus woodlands, also using pastures and arable land.

Diet:
They mainly hunt adult and larval insects, including mantids, grasshoppers, locusts, stick insects and ants, but also take spiders and possibly even small birds such as house sparrows Passer domesticus. Occasionally also plant material such as fruits and berries.

Breeding:
Ground cuckooshrikes can breed all year round, usually after rains. They nest communally and sometimes show cooperative breeding, with the breeding pair being helped by the young from the previous year. The nest is a a deep cup made of fine dry twigs, small roots, bark and herbs, held together with spider webs. It is lined with lichens, moss and wool, and placed in an horizontal branch or fork in a tree, 3-15 m above the ground. They can also use old nest from other birds. The female lays 2-4 but there is no information regarding the incubation period. The chicks are fed by both parents and by the helpers, and fledge about 29 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range but is reported to be erratic and generally uncommon. The population is estimated to be in decline following declines detected in Victoria since the 1970s due to habitat destruction.

Ashy cuckoo-shrike

Coracina cinerea

Photo by Jonas Rosquist (PBase)

Common name:
ashy cuckoo-shrike (en); lagarteiro-de-Madagáscar (pt); échenilleur malgache (fr); oruguero Malgache (es); Madagaskarraupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species isfound throughout the lowland areas of Madagascar and also in the Comoros.

Size:
These birds are 22-24 cm long and weigh 40-45 g.

Habitat:
The ashy cuckoo-shrike is mostly found in low to mid-altitude tropical forests, including both moist and dry forests, gallery forests and forest edges. They also use scrublands, mangroves and second growths.

Diet:
They feed mainly on arthropods, including caterpillars, grasshoppers, butterflies, beetles, stick insects, cicadas, mantids, bugs, flies, mayflies, dragonflies and spiders, but also take small chameleons.

Breeding:
Ashy cuckoo-shrikes breed in October-March. They are socially monogamous and the nest is a
shallow bowl made of moss and lichens. It is usually placed on horizontal tree branch, over 12 m above the ground. There the female lays 1-2 eggs which are incubated by both parents, but there is no available information on the length of the incubation period. the chicks are fed by both parents and fledge about 24 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as common in suitable habitat in Madagascar and uncommon on the Comoros. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction.

Bar-winged flycatcher-shrike

Hemipus picatus

Photo by Mapalagama Premasiri (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
bar-winged flycatcher-shrike (en); largarteiro-de-asa-listada (pt); échenilleur gobemouche (fr); oruguero alibarrado (es); elsterraupenschmätzer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is found from India and Nepal to southern China, and through Indochina into the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

Size:
These birds are 15 cm long and weigh 9-10 g.

Habitat:
The bar-winged flycatcher-shrike is mostly found in moist tropical forests, also using forest edges, moist scrublands, rural gardens and plantations.

Diet:
They hunt insects by gleaning the foliage and sallying out from a perch.

Breeding:
These birds breed in February-August. The nest is a neat cup made of lichens and spider webs, and lined with fine grasses and plant fibres. It is placed in the horizontal surface of a dead or leafless branch. There the female lays 2-3 pale greenish-white eggs with black and grey blotches. The eggs are incubated by both sexes but there is no information on the length of the incubation and fledgling periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as locally common in the Indian subcontinent, common in Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka; locally common in South-East Asia and common in China. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Petit's cuckooshrike

Campephaga petiti

(Photo from Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
Petit's cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-de-Petit (pt); échenilleur de Petit (fr); oruguero de Petit (es); Kongoraupenfresser (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is patchily distributed in central Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon, through D.R. Congo and into Angola, Uganda and Kenya.

Size:
These birds are 20 cm long.

Habitat:
The Petit's cuckooshrike is mostly found in the canopy of moist tropical forests, but can also use second growths. They are mainly present at altitudes of 1.400-1.800 m.

Diet:
They feed on small insects and spiders, seeds and grain.

Breeding:
There is little information about the reproduction of this species. Female lay 2-3 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, but there i no information regarding the length of the incubation and fledgling periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large bur fragmented breeding range. Although the global population size has not been quantified, the Petit's cuckooshrike is reported to be uncommon to locally common. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction, but it is not considered threatened at present.

Grey cukooshrike

Coracina caesia

Photo by Ian White (Flickr)

Common name:
grey cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-cinzento (pt); échenilleur gris (fr); oruguero gris (es); waldraupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is patchily distributed in East Africa, from Ethiopia down to eastern and southern South Africa. There is also a population is southern Nigeria and western Cameroon.

Size:
These birds are 25-27 cm long and weigh about 65 g.

Habitat:
The grey cuckooshrike is mostly found in tropical moist forests, including mountain rainforests and coastal rainforests. They also use dry scrublands, plantations and areas along rivers and streams.

Diet:
They are insectivorous, mostly hunting caterpillars, but also grasshoppers, beetles and spiders in the upper canopy of the forest.

Breeding:
Grey cuckooshrikes breed in October-February. The nest is shallow bowl built of old-man's beard lichen Usnea sp. cemented with spider web and placed either on a thick branch or in the fork of a tree, usually on the forest edge. There the female lays 1-2 eggs which are incubated by both sexes. There is no information regarding the length of the incubation and fledgling periods, but the chicks are known to remain with the parents until the next breeding season.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large but patchy breeding range. It is reported to be common in the north of its range, but uncommon in the south. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction.

Reunion cuckooshrike

Coracina newtoni

Photo by Theron Seor (Komansava)

Common name:
Reunion cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-da Reunião (pt); tuit-tuit (fr); oruguero de Reunión (es); Newton-raupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is endemic to the island of Reunion, in the Indian ocean east of Madagascar. Within the island it is restricted to two very small areas in the north-west,  Plaine d'Affouches and Plaine des Chicots.

Size:
These birds are 20-22 cm long and weigh about 40 g.

Habitat:
The Reunion cuckooshrike is strictly associated with closed-canopy natural forest, occurring in mixed evergreen subtropical forest that also often includes areas of heath Philippia montana and tamarin Acacia heterophylla. Sometimes they wander into nearby plantations. They are found at altitudes of 1.000-1.800 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects, but will also take some fruits from native plants.

Breeding:
Reunion cuckooshrikes breed in September-April. They neat in cup made of twigs and lichens bound together with spider webs. The female lays 2-3 eggs, which are incubated for 15-17 days. The chicks fledge 20-23 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - CR (Critically Endangered)
This species has a very small breeding range and a global population estimated at just 50 individuals. The Reunion cuckooshrike lost most if its native habitat, being restricted to a very small area, thus being highly sensitive to any habitat changes such as degradation by the invasion of exotic vegetation or forest fires. Nest predation by introduced rats and feral cats causes poor reproductive success and there is still some problems with poaching for food. Additional threats include diseases, disturbance from recreational activities, fire, cyclones, invasive alien vegetation, potential competition with other bird species and habitat degradation caused by rusa deer Cervus timorensis rusa. Finally, having a mountainous distribution that is close to the maximum altitude within its range, this species is potentially susceptible to climate change. Conservation actions underway include protection of the remaining habitats, with a logging ban, control of exotic plants, fire breaks, better control of hunting, curbing of tourism, and action to reduce deer numbers. Rat and cat populations are also being controlled through the setting of poisoned baits, accompanied by the trapping of rats and cats to monitor their populations. 

Black-faced cuckoo-shrike

Coracina novaehollandiae

Photo by Tom Tarrant (Wikipedia)

Common name:
black-faced cuckoo-shrike (en); lagarteiro-de-face-preta (pt); échenilleur à masque noir (fr); oruguero de cara negra (es); schwarzgesicht-raupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is found throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania, with some populations migrating north to winter in Papua-New Guinea and Indonesia.

Size:
These birds are 32-35 cm long and weigh 90-150 g.

Habitat:
The black-faced cuckoo-shrike is found in a wide range of wooded habitats, including dry savannas, dry tropical forests, moist tropical forests and mangroves, and also in agricultural and urban areas.

Diet:
They can forage on the ground, on the foliage or in flight, taking a wide variety of invertebrates, such as grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders and worms, as well as seeds and fruits, including mistletoe, figs and berries.

Breeding:
Black-faced cuckoo-shrikes can breed all year round, varying between different parts of their range. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a small, neat, shallow cup, made of twigs, rootlets, bark fibre and Casuarina leaves, bound together with spider webs. It is placed on an horizontal fork of a tree, usually 8-20 m above the ground. The female lays 2-3 creamy-brown eggs with darker brown speckles, which are incubated by both parents for 21-22 days. The chicks are raised by both parents and fledge 21-26 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is reported to be locally common. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction, but it is not considered threatened at present.

White-winged triller

Lalage tricolor

Photo by Tony Ashton (Tyto Tony)

Common name:
white-winged triller (en); lagarteiro d'asa branca (pt); échenilleur tricolore (fr); gorjeador de alas blancas (es); weißflügel-lalage (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Australia, being found throughout the Australian mainland and in northern Tasmania.

Size:
These birds are 17-19 cm long and weigh 26 g.

Habitat:
The white-winged triller is found in dry savannas and forests, tree-lined waterways in semi-arid regions, dry scrublands and also in arable land and within urban areas.

Diet:
They hawk flying insects in the air, but will also forage on the ground taking insects, fruits and seeds. They are also known to eat nectar.

Breeding:
White-winged trillers breed in September-December. They nest in colonies with many nests in the same tree. Each nest is a small cup made of bark, grasses and spider webs, placed in an horizontal branch or fork in a tree. They sometimes may use the empty nests of other birds, favouring the mud nests of magpie larks Grallina cyanoleuca. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for 14 days. The chicks are raised by both parents and fledge 12 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is reported to be often common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Scarlet minivet

Pericrocotus flammeus

Photo by Abhishek Das (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
scarlet minivet (en); minivete-escarlate (pt); grand minivet (fr); minivete rojo (es); scharlachmennigvogel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae


Range:
This species if found in southern Asia, from India and Nepal, through Bangladesh and Myanmar and into southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines.


Size:
These birds are 20-22 cm long and weigh 20-30 g.


Habitat:
Scarlet minivets are mostly found in rainforests, both in lowlands and mountainous areas. they are also found in swamp forests and in rural gardens.


Diet:
They mostly feed on insects, which they glean from the foliage high up in the canopy. These birds are often found in mixed-species foraging flocks.


Breeding:
The scarlet minivet in monogamous. They breed in February-September and the nest is a large, shallow cup, woven with small twigs and held together with spider webs. The nest is placed high up in the forest canopy. There the female lays 2-4 pale-green eggs with darker spot, which she incubates alone while the male brings food. the chicks are raised by both parents. Although there is no information on the length of incubation and fledging periods, similar species incubate the eggs for 14-18 days and fledge chicks in 2-3 weeks.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as widespread and common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Ashy minivet

Pericrocotus divaricatus

(Photo from Flickriver)

Common name:
ashy minivet (en); minivete-sombrio (pt); minivet cendré (fr); minivete sombrío (es); graumennigvogel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae


Range:
This Asian species breeds in south-eastern Russia, north-eastern China, Korea and Japan. They migrate south to winter in Southeast Asia as far south as Indonesia and the Philippines.


Size:
These birds are 18-20 cm long and weigh 25 g.


Habitat:
Ashy minivets are mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical moist forests and in temperate forests. They can also be found in a wide range of wooded habitats including swamp forests, mangroves, plantations and even dry scrublands and urban parks and gardens.


Diet:
They often join mixed-species flocks, foraging in the forest canopy for insects and other small arthropods.


Breeding:
Ashy minivets breed in March-July. The nest is a broad shallow cup made of twigs, placed high in the tree canopy. There the female lays 4-7 brownish-green eggs with brown blotches, which are incubated for 17-18 days. The chicks fledge 16-17 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common in China, fairly common but local in Japan and uncommon to locally common in its non-breeding range in Southeast Asia. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Black cuckooshrike

Campephaga flava

Photo by Loutjie Steenberg (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:

black cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-preto (pt); échenilleur à épaulettes jaunes (fr); oruguero negro africano (es); kuckuckswürger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Campephagidae

Range:

This African species occurs south of the equator from southern Sudan, Kenya and the D.R. Congo down to southern Africa.

Size:

The black cuckooshrike is 20-22 cm long and weighs 32 g.

Habitat:

This species generally favours broad-leaved mixed woodlands, also occurring along the edges of evergreen forest and in well-wooded gardens.

Diet:

They mainly eat insects, which they glean from leaves and branches. They are known to take Lepidoptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera. They occasionally also eat fruits.

Breeding:

Black cuckooshrikes breed in September-February. The female builds the nest alone, a cup made of moss, lichens and old-man's beard lichen Usnea bound together with spider webs, placed in a vertical fork of a tree branch, often high up in the tree. There the female lays 1-3 green eggs, which she incubates alone for 20 days while receiving food from the male. The chicks are fed by both adults but brooded only by the female, and fledge 20-23 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has an extremely large breeding range and is reported to be uncommon to locally common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

White-breasted cuckooshrike

Coracina pectoralis

Photo by Warwick Tarboton (Warwik Tarboton)

Common name:

white-breasted cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-cinzento-e-branco (pt); échenilleur à ventre blanc (fr); oruguero de pecho blanco (es); weißbrust-raupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Campephagidae

Range:

This species is patchily distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, occurring along the Sahel belt, from West to East Africa. It also has a separate population south of the equator from Tanzania, Zambia and Angola to Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, northern Mozambique and South Africa.

Size:

The white-breasted cuckooshrike is 27 cm long and weighs 60 g.

Habitat:

They are mostly found in savanna and Mesic woodland, generally favouring well developed mopane (Colosphermum mopane) and miombo (Brachystegia) woodland, and occasionally occupying riverine forest.

Diet:

The white-breasted cuckooshrike mainly eats caterpillars, gleaning them from the trunk, branches and leaves of trees, occasionally joining mixed-species foraging flocks. It also takes advantage of termite alate emergences, hawking them on the wing.

Breeding:

These birds breed in March-December. The nest is built solely by the female and consists of a shallow bowl made of twigs and leaf petioles, covered in old-man's beard lichen (Usnea) and cemented with spider web. It is usually placed on a thick branch or in an horizontal fork, 6-20 m above ground. There the female lays 1-2 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for about 23 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, fledging about 24 days after hatching, and becoming independent 2-3 months later but still remaining with the adults until the next breeding season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally frequent to uncommon in the north of its range, rare in Rwanda and Kenya, common in Angola, uncommon south from Malawi and rare in South Africa. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction, but it is not considered threatened at present.

Fiery minivet

Pericrocotus igneus

Photo by Neon Rosell (Philippine Bird Photography Forum)

Common name:

fiery minivet (en); minivete-flamejante (pt); minivet flamboyant (fr); minivete encendido (es); feuermennigvogel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Campephagidae

Range:

This Asian species is found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, and parts of Malaysia and Brunei, as well as the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo and the Palawan Province islands of the Philippines.

Size:

Fiery minivets are 15-16,5 cm long and weigh 14-16 g.

Habitat:

They are found in the canopies of forests and along forest edges, but it will also occupy pine plantations and casuarina groves. This species is most common in lowlands, but they are also sighted in the mountain forests of Sumatra up to an altitude of 2.700 m. They also inhabit coastal mangrove swamps.

Diet:

This species is largely insectivorous, mostly taking moths and caterpillars.

Breeding:

Fiery minivets breed in different seasons at different parts of their range, in the Philippines they breed during the dry season, in December, while in Malaysia they breed during the rainy season, starting in May. These birds are believed to be monogamous, with mated pairs working together to build a cup-shaped nest of fine plant parts, spider webs, and lichens, fungus, that they place high in a tree. There the female lays 2 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 14-16 days. Both sexes care for the young until fledging, which takes place 2-3 weeks after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near Threatened)

Although the global population is yet to be quantified, this species is believed to be declining moderately rapidly throughout its range. This species is mostly threatened by habitat loss as a result of forest clearance. Rates of forest loss in the Sundaic lowlands have been extremely rapid, owing partly to the escalation of illegal logging and land conversion, with deliberate targeting of all remaining stands of valuable timber including those inside protected areas. Forest fires have also had a damaging effect. Still, the magnitude of these threats may be allayed by the species tolerance of secondary forest.