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Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · source ↗
Burchell's Coucal
Gewone Vleiloerie · Centropus burchellii
A large, heavy-bodied relative of the cuckoos with a black cap and rich rufous wings, clambering clumsily through rank vegetation near water. Unlike true cuckoos it raises its own young. Its liquid bubbling call, often before rain, gives it the name rain-bird. It is resident all year.
Log your Burchell's Coucal sighting — free →How to identify it
Big skulking bird with a black cap, rufous wings and a creamy belly; bubbling 'bottle' call.
Listen for its call
A bubbling "doo-doo-doo" that pours down like water from a bottle.
Where to see it in Kruger
Rank grass, reedbeds and thickets near water throughout the park.
Did you know
Its bubbling call sounds like water glugging out of a bottle, and is often heard before rain.
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