Cacomantis variolosus
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Sahul brush cuckoo (Cacomantis variolosus), formerly known as the brush cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo family. It is native to Malesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northern and eastern Australia. It is a grey-brown bird with a buff breast. Its call is a familiar sound of the Australian and Indonesian bush.
The Manus brush cuckoo (Cacomantis blandus) and the Solomons brush cuckoo... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 8 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 9 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 11 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 12 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 14 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 18 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 19 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 20 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 21 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 249 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 79th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May to September, the lowest months. That is one of Kakadu National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain against almost none in August. February has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rusty-breasted Cuckoo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Rusty-breasted Cuckoo sightings, Kakadu National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Raja Ampat (Indonesia, about 20%) and Daintree National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the Rusty-breasted Cuckoo that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Pheasant Coucal (about 30%), 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 Rusty-breasted Cuckoo is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (249 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.
