The Elusive Pheasant Coucal (Centropus Phasianinus) — Townsville, Australia.
My introduction with the specimen
At the start of my morning routine, I like to sit outside and just enjoy my morning breeze (if you can call it that way in Townsville). Almost every morning, there is this special calling from an unknown bird so I decided to investigate the specimen that created that sound. I noticed that the bird made three distinct noises. One that is a deep continuous “coo coo coo” that has been easily documented but the others are really strange to describe. It is like a slow pace high pitch sweesh and the other one is a moderate pace group of sounds that I cannot even describe.
After chasing the identity of that bird, I realized I will never be part of the Nat Geo Wild or the BBC Earth with David Attenborough's new series. This is why. When I first heard the familiar sound I rushed to get my trusty camera and as I was about to take the photo an instant fog (condensation) appeared on my lens. I then learned that going from an air-conditioning room to the humid 30℃ Townsville air, it instantly punished my lens with fog. No problem, I just need to clean it but in that time the bird got spooked and fled away — damn. Fine then, it is just round 2 next time.
Round 2 happened on the next day as I predicted. I saw the specimen, rushed to get my trusty camera and got a very nice frame of the bird. I then proceeded to push my trigger and nothing happened. I looked down and turned out that I forgot to put an SD card in the camera. I sighed and I thought all right I will just get one and try again. By the time I came back — well you guessed it, it was gone. Okay, you damn bird you win again.
Round 3. I have my trusty camera, my SD card and there is no fog on the lens. Being wise as I am, I took my camera to breakfast with me. I do my routine and soon I heard the sound (I even learned which tree was his(?) favourite — he has three by the way). Very slowly and carefully I took aim, got a nice frame, pulled on the trigger and… SD card is full. Why must life be this way? I cursed that bird and at that moment I pledged I will finish this challenge. This made me wonder the patience and the professionalism these BBC Earth photographers must have and how much data must have been lost due to difficulties, technical issues or mistakes.
The next day. I am in a good mood because nothing can go wrong as everything that went wrong and failed has already failed. So what is the probability that something will fail again? Exactly, none. Round 4 arrives, I am having breakfast and I hear him. That weird high pitch “sweesh” very typical of an Australian sound like a distant laughing Kookaburra in the eucalyptus trees. I stand up slowly, I have my trusty camera, no fog, SD card that is not full and I frame the bird into view. Sitting in the branch at the summit of a tree, I shoot him, capture the light at that moment and every pixels have their own information. The program then shows me the results of the put-together pixel to illustrate an image. And there it was — finally.
Satisfied with the pictures and slightly relieved, I then go on Google and type Townsville local birds or Queensland birds. I then recognise this bird to be the Pheasant Coucal a.k.a. in the scientific community Centropus Phasianinus and it seems to be a male with red eyes and a black feathered neck.
(Note: I hope I have correctly identified the bird, if not please let me know in the comment section below).
I then decided to document this bird a little bit more and I was able to film him making all those different calls especially the “cou cou cou” described earlier which can be easily found on the internet. The other sounds, however, I could not find it or it was more difficult to find it.
The three distinct pheasant coucal calls
Here, in the video below, I managed to film his three distinct but different calls with my camera. Every morning, I would try to catch him producing these calls but it turned out a little bit more difficult than expected as he is a shy bird. So, my window of filming was very narrow on top of not making any sudden movements which reduced the chance of being spooked. I think the video turned out very nicely and I enjoyed editing it on the computer.
Every morning at around 8 am, this male pheasant coucal would perch and make these different calls. I decided to observe and record his different calls. Credit: Andréas Astier, Published on 21 Feb 2019, Pheasant Coucal Different Calls - Townsville, Australia.
Some Statistics on the Pheasant Coucal
Description:
Size: 50 to 75 cm.
Weight: 230 - 430 grams, average weight of 380 grams.
Breeding season: September-March but may vary according to region.
Sexual maturity: 2-3 years.
Number of eggs: 3-5 which are white with brown stains.
Incubation period: 15 days and nestling period of 13 days.
Typical diet: feeds on the ground on large insects, frogs, lizards, eggs and, sometimes, small mammals.
Habitat: the Pheasant Coucal prefers to be in dense under-storey vegetation such as grasses, rushes, bracken and sedges, in open forests and woodlands, and around wetlands. They can be found in sugar cane plantations near the wetlands, on farmlands with weed-infested thickets.
Distribution: the pheasant coucal found in Northern and Eastern Australia, New Guinea and East Timor. They are also found in Pilbara, Western Australia to South-eastern New South Wales. In New South Wales it is mainly found east of the Great Dividing Range from the Queensland border to the southern Hunter region, with some around Sydney and further south to Illawarra.
Credit: What-when-how in Depth Tutorials and Information.
The pheasant coucal that hangs around
Here is a collection of clips that I continuously took from February to March of this elusive pheasant coucal. I had a pleasure understanding this bird, identifying it and observing its behaviour as well as appreciating the amount of work a professional has to put in to further scientific research (such as Nat Geo Wild or the BBC Earth). I do feel attached to this bird after seeing him almost every day when taking my breakfast, it is actually a weird feeling. This wild animal, whenever it appears, does bring a smile to myself as if he is a morning breakfast buddy. I still haven’t named him and possibly his partner but I quite like it that the pheasant doesn’t have a name as maybe giving it a name may take away the illusion of freedom and wildness. None of the less, I hope you have learned something as I sure did! This experience has definitely made me enjoy the bird kingdom a little bit more.
After a light thunder shower the pheasant is drying his wings for the incoming day. He would expand his wings for at least an hour for complete dryness. Although, does he not put himself in danger against other animals by being on the ground?
For a time, days in and out, this pheasant has been getting a lot of food. I suspect he may have chicks to feed as breeding season is between September to March. There was a lot of variety in his diet of choice.
It took me a long time to understand his habits and where are his flying paths. Be quick as in a few seconds he is gone!
Just managed to get this shot before he disappeared. I have never taken photos of birds in-flight (hint for the last photo).
This wooden fence was one of his favourite spot.
Morning sunlight and off he goes to feed his chicks.
He caught a sort of stick insect. That was a very common type of insect in his diet and choice of food
A better and improved in-flight photo. Notice the worm in his beak.
A beautiful photo with a bit of contrast and I love the colours of the wings. With this angle you can see the moment before he is about to push himself onto the air (or just flap). Notice his body is not straight but curved as he is about to flap which indicates he is drawing power and strength from his musculoskeletal system. Similarly to humans if we expand our arms in a T-shape, you would extend your arms backwards pushing your chest outwards and creating an inward dent medially and posteriorly of the back. This would give the greatest angle to flap and use the all the muscles for a medial rotation and adduction movement.
A photo taken from underneath. Notice a bit of wear-and-tear on his feathers, maybe a fight with another male for a prized female? Or maybe thorns?
This photo shows nicely the whole length and the dimensions of the pheasant coucal. Again see the wear-and-tear at the end of his feather like tail. Just like an air-plane (or how engineers got their imagination) notice how the pheasant opens his wings to get the maximum surface area and control before landing - just like an air-plane increases wing surface area.
And here it is! This photo is the best in-flight shot I have managed to take (ever taken). I was very impressed with this photograph and I learned a lot on how to take photos of fast moving animals. This was at a speed of 1/1000, the Aperture was about F6.3 and an ISO of 640. The colours are superb and I really enjoy the colours on the wings as well as the details! This photo made me very happy indeed.
After some time, he came back!
Here I was enjoying my breakfast when I finally saw him again. It has been about 6 months since the last time I had a proper good look at him. I have heard him and his friends (at least 2 more) throughout September and November but have not seen him or the others. I decided to get my canon camera and slowly make my way towards him. I got a few new additions in the profile department but I was pleased with the shots on the wingspans and the body. I also decided to take photos whilst he hunt and compare how well he does with his natural environment. I find it quite difficult to see him as he blends extremely well with the background and foreground.
A morning shot during mid November of 2019. I have not seen him for about 6 months so it was quite refreshing.
I especially enjoy the light of the morning.
With these two shots I managed to really appreciate its wing span and full body length.
Look at those colours! He is really a beautiful specimen. I think this photo is where he is the most open and deployed.
Hunting with a perfect camouflage
Here is a behavioural video of the pheasant
I managed to capture the pheasant just hanging and looking around mostly from his favourite wooden fence which I presume gives him a strategic view of his hunting grounds. There is a moment when he is in the tall grass which is an environment he likes to hunt as he hops around and finds his favourite food.
Credit: Andréas Astier, Published on 28 Mar 2019, The behaviour of the Pheasant Coucal - Townsville, Australia.
My final say
I had so much fun doing this little project. I learned a lot more about bird behaviours and photography, especially nature photography. I learned how to take photos of fast-moving animals and to be have a lot of patience when observing, documenting and learning an animal’s behaviour.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with the outcome and I hope you have learned something too!
Published 30th March 2019. Last reviewed 30th December 2021.
Reference
Australian Geographic. The pheasant coucal is proof that Australia has the best birds. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2018/03/the-pheasant-coucal-is-proof-that-australia-has-the-best-birds/. Accessed February 22, 2019.
Birdlife Townsville formerly the Townsville Region Bird Observers Club. http://www.birdlifetownsville.org.au/. Accessed February 22, 2019.
Birds in Backyards. Pheasant Coucal. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Centropus-phasianinus. Accessed February 22, 2019.
Morcombe M. Field guide to Australian Birds Complete Compact Edition. Steve Parish Publishing; 2004.
North Queensland Dry Topics Website Homepgae. Pheasant Coucal. http://wiki.nqdrytropics.com.au/index.php/Pheasant_Coucal. Accessed February 22, 2019.
What-when-how in Depth Tutorials and Information. Pheasant Coucal (Birds). http://what-when-how.com/birds/pheasant-coucal-birds/. Accessed February 22, 2019.
Wikipedia. Pheasant coucal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_coucal. Accessed February 22, 2019.
