Centropus cupreicaudus
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The coppery-tailed coucal (Centropus cupreicaudus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It was first described by the German ornithologist Anton Reichenow in 1896.
An adult coppery-tailed coucal is about 48 cm (19 in) long and has a curved beak and long, broad tail. Males are slightly smaller than females. The coppery-tailed coucal's plumage is similar to that of the Senegal coucal (Centropus senegalensis). It has a black head and upperparts, white or cream-coloured underparts, a brown rump with a coppery-sheen and a blackish-brown tail. Immature birds have pale streaks on the head and their flight feathers are barred. The call of the coppery-tailed coucal consists of deep, bubbling notes.
The coppery-tailed coucal is native to parts of south central Africa. Its range stretches from Angola in the west to southwestern Tanzania, northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. Its typical habitat is swampland and dense vegetation near rivers, but it is also found on inundated floodplains and near seasonal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 2 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 3 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Coppery-tailed Coucal sighting in Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, based on 650 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 334 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Coppery-tailed Coucal in Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, against about 30% in February and May, the lowest months. That is one of Moremi Game Reserve's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against almost none in May.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Coppery-tailed Coucal 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 3 parks where we can rate Coppery-tailed Coucal sightings, Moremi Game Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Chobe National Park (Botswana, about 20%) and Kafue National Park (Zambia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Coppery-tailed Coucal is recorded against all the birds logged in Moremi Game Reserve (650 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.
