Centropus sinensis
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. A widespread resident in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is divided into several subspecies, some being treated as full species. They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in a wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. They are weak fliers, and are often seen clambering about in vegetation or walking on the ground as they forage for insects, eggs and nestlings of other birds. They have a familiar deep resonant call which is associated with omens in many parts of its range.
This is a large species of cuckoo at 48 cm. The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. There are no pale shaft streaks on the coverts. The eyes are ruby red. Juveniles are duller black with spots on the crown and there are whitish bars on the underside and tail. There are several geographic races and some of these populations are sometimes treated as full species. Earlier treatments included the brown coucal (C.... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Hajipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Raipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Durg | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Solapur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Visakhapatnam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Coucal sighting in Islamabad on a given day, based on 82 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 41st most-seen of the 123 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and June
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Coucal in Islamabad on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and September–October, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Greater Coucal sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
84th of 90
Of the 90 cities where we can rate Greater Coucal sightings, Islamabad ranks 84th at about 10%. The best odds are in Thiruvananthapuram (India, about 80%), Hajipur (India, about 70%) and Raipur (India, about 70%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Greater Coucal is recorded against all the birds logged in Islamabad (82 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
