Brown Cuckoo-Dove
Macropygia phasianella· 鸠鸽科(1 photos)
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Brown Cuckoo-Dove
38-43 cm. Graceful, long-tailed pigeon: coppery-brown above, buffish cinnamon below with broad shadowy bars under tail. Male: rose/green wash on neck. Female: subtle smutty pattern on neck-breast. Juvenile: buff feather-margins on upperparts; crown, underparts more chestnut, latter with faint black barrings. Birds n. of Cooktown (Q), smaller; males have greyish heads. Pairs, parties, feeding companies: not shy; often feeds in low shrubs beside roads or tracks in rainforest, secondary growth in clearings. Flight strong, graceful with easy wingbeats. Display flight like Spotted Turtle-Dove.
- Other name
- Brown or Pheasant Pigeon.
- Voice
- mellow, high-pitched, repeated 'cuckoo-rork', rising at end ('did you walk?'), repeated frequently; rolling 'c-croor' in display.
- Habitat
- highland and lowland rainforests, mostly on margins; brigalow/softwood scrubs; secondary growth; thickets of wild tobacco, inkweed, lantana.
- Breeding
- mostly spring-early summer.
- Nest
- scanty, of twigs laid crosswise; in understorey shrub or tree, head of Pandanus, palm, tree fern, vine tangle; often near edge of tracks.
- Eggs
- 1; creamy white.
- Range & Status
- coastal e. Aust. and islands: from Pascoe R. (and Weipa-Aurukun), C. York Pen., s. to near Eden (NSW); inland to Atherton Tableland-Chinchilla-Toowoomba (Q); Tenterfield-Liverpool Ra.-Budawang Ra. (NSW). Casual e. Vic. (Mallacoota Inlet, Bairnsdale). Common; seasonally, locally nomadic.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Macropygia phasianella quinkan 2. Macropygia phasianella robinsoni 3. Macropygia phasianella phasianella
