Over the past three months you have probably heard the Channel-billed Cuckoo calling in your neighbourhood - a call that can be considered as distinctive as the bird’s appearance!
This species is the largest Australian cuckoo, measuring between 56 and 70cm, with a wingspan that can stretch to more than a metre. In flight the long tail and long wings give the bird a crucifix-shaped silhouette when viewed from below.
The Channel-billed Cuckoo migrates from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to northern and eastern Australia between August and October each year, before making their return trip between February and March. Upon their arrival in Australia, their breeding season begins.
But this bird is not interested in parenting so doesn’t scrape together a mound, utilise a tree hollow or build its own nest to lay its eggs in. Instead, it is a nest parasite and seeks out hosts such as magpies, currawongs, ravens, and occasionally the mud nests of the White-winged Cough or Magpie-lark.
Unlike many other cuckoos, the Channel-billed Cuckoo’s chick does not evict the host’s eggs or young from the nest, they instead grow faster and demand all the food brought in by the host parents. The rapid growth of the cuckoo chick simply outcompetes the others in the nest. The eventual size of a Chanel-billed Cuckoo chick can even rival the size of its host parents!
It’s understandable that when a Channel-billed Cuckoo is seen in flight, it is often trailed by other birds attempting to chase it out of their territory and away from their nests. This battle between nest parasite and host has been on-going for millennia and is fascinating to watch in action.
