Centropus phasianinus
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The pheasant coucal (Centropus phasianinus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Timor and New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It has adapted well to canefields in northern Australia. The pheasant coucal is unusual among Australian cuckoos in that it incubates and raises its own young instead of laying its eggs in the nest of another species.
The ornithologist John Latham described the pheasant coucal as Cuculus phasianinus in 1801, based on a drawing by Thomas Watling. Six subspecies are recognised, two of which are found in Australia with an abrupt demarcation between them occurring around the Burdekin River in Central Queensland. South is the nominate subspecies phasianinus, while north is the subspecies melanurus, which is larger in size and has darker and more prominent black bands on its rectrices. The little known subspecies mui is found in eastern Timor, and has distinctive white plumage of its upperparts, head and breast. The remaining three subspecies are found in New Guinea, and all have darker plumage than other forms. Subspecies... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Territory Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Australian Reptile Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Gorge Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant Coucal sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 416 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 59th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and September
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant Coucal in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May and June, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pheasant Coucal sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Pheasant Coucal sightings, Kakadu National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Daintree National Park (Australia, about 20%) and Nitmiluk National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the Pheasant Coucal that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Rusty-breasted Cuckoo (about 20%), Channel-billed Cuckoo (about 10%) and Little Bronze Cuckoo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pheasant Coucal is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (416 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
