Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus)
About the Pallid Cuckoo
The pallid cuckoo (Heteroscenes pallidus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Heteroscenes. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 cm (11 and 13 in) in size, with distinctive markings such as a dark bill, a dark eye with a gold eye-ring and olive grey feet which differentiate it from other cuckoos. The pallid cuckoo is similar in appearance to the oriental cuckoo (Cuculus optatus), with barred immature pallid cuckoos being often mistaken for oriental cuckoos. English ornithologist John Latham described the pallid cuckoo in 1801 as Columba pallida "pale pigeon".
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 40 recordings for this species: 21 CC BY-NC-ND · 17 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Australia, Indonesia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Banded Bay CuckooCacomantis sonneratiirecording
- Fan-tailed CuckooCacomantis flabelliformisrecording
- Grey-bellied CuckooCacomantis passerinusrecording
- Plaintive CuckooCacomantis merulinusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.