Cacomantis flabelliformis
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The fan-tailed cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Six subspecies have been recognised:
Cacomantis flabelliformis excitus (Rothschild & Hartert, 1907) – Mountains of New Guinea. Cacomantis flabelliformis flabelliformis (Latham, 1802) – Eastern Australia from Cape York through to southern South Australia; south-western Western Australia.
Cacomantis flabelliformis meeki (Rothschild & Hartert, 1902) – Solomon Islands including Santa Isabel, Kolombangara, Guadalcanal and Bellona. Originally designated Cacomantis meeki. Cacomantis flabelliformis pyrrhophanus (Vieillot, 1817) – New Caledonia including the Loyalty Islands.
Cacomantis flabelliformis schistaceigularis (Sharpe, 1900) – Vanuatu. Cacomantis flabelliformis simus (Peale, 1848) – Fiji. The fan-tailed cuckoo is about 25–27 cm (9.8–10.6 in) long. The fan-tailed cuckoo has a slate-grey head, back and wings, rufous underparts and barred black and white tail. Its eye is surrounded by a yellow orbital eye ring which helps to distinguish it from the smaller and paler brush... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Island National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fan-tailed Cuckoo sighting in Wilsons Promontory National Park on a given day, based on 62 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 57th most-seen of the 138 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 November–December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Fan-tailed Cuckoo in Wilsons Promontory National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–March and May–August, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fan-tailed Cuckoo sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Fan-tailed Cuckoo sightings, Wilsons Promontory National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Maria Island National Park (Australia, about 40%), Lamington National Park (Australia, about 30%) and Great Otway National Park (Australia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fan-tailed Cuckoo is recorded against all the birds logged in Wilsons Promontory National Park (62 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.
