Black Cuckoo (Cuculus clamosus)
About the Black Cuckoo
The black cuckoo (Cuculus clamosus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. The species is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa. There are two subspecies. This cuckoo has a very wide range and is quite common so it is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The black cuckoo is a medium-sized cuckoo. The sexes are similar, the plumage varying by subspecies; Cuculus clamosus clamosus has upper parts black glossed with green, slatey-grey wings and black tail tipped with white and sometimes with the outer feathers barred or spotted with white or buff; Cuculus clamosus gabonensis is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 130 recordings for this species: 1 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 Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- African CuckooCuculus gularisrecording
- Common CuckooCuculus canorusrecording
- Indian CuckooCuculus micropterusrecording
- Red-chested CuckooCuculus solitariusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.