Centropus superciliosus
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The white-browed coucal or lark-heeled cuckoo (Centropus superciliosus), is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa. It inhabits areas with thick cover afforded by rank undergrowth and scrub, including in suitable coastal regions. Burchell's coucal is sometimes considered a subspecies.
The white-browed coucal is a medium-sized species growing to 36 to 42 cm (14 to 17 in) in length. The sexes are similar, adults having a blackish crown and nape, a white supercilium, rufous-brown back, chestnut wings, blackish rump and black tail, glossed with green, with a white tip. The underparts are creamy-white, the eyes red, the beak black, and the legs and feet greyish-black or black. Juveniles have rufous streaking on the crown, a faint buff supercilium, barred upper parts and darker underparts.
The white-browed coucal is native to eastern and southern Africa, and the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Its range includes Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a White-browed Coucal sighting in Meru National Park on a given day, based on 155 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and October
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a White-browed Coucal in Meru National Park on a given day, against about 50% in January and September, the lowest months. Those are among Meru National Park's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain a month against almost none in July. May and July–August have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-browed Coucal sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 45 parks where we can rate White-browed Coucal sightings, Meru National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 60%) and Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the White-browed Coucal that you can see in Meru National Park (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Common Cuckoo (about 30%), Klaas's Cuckoo (about 20%) and Jacobin Cuckoo (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-browed Coucal is recorded against all the birds logged in Meru National Park (155 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.
