Channel-billed Cuckoo
Encyclopedia
The Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is a species of cuckoo
in the Cuculidae
family. It is monotypic
within the genus Scythrops. The species is the largest brood parasite
in the world, and the largest cuckoo.
It is found in Australia
, Papua New Guinea
and Indonesia
; additionally, it is vagrant in New Caledonia
and New Zealand
. The species is migratory
over part of its range. There are three subspecies
, one migratory, the other two resident. Its natural habitat
s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest
s and subtropical or tropical mangrove
forests. The species is listed as least concern
by the IUCN.
in 1790. Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek
skuthro-/σκυθρο- 'angry' or 'sullen', and ops/ωψ 'face', 'eye' or 'countenance'. The specific epithet novaehollandiae means of New Holland
, hence Australian.
There are three subspecies
: the nominate Scythrops novaehollandiae novaehollandiae of Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas, Scythrops novaehollandiae fordi in Sulawesi
, and Scythrops novaehollandiae schoddei in the Bismarck Archipelago
.
is bi-coloured, with a grey base becoming straw-coloured at the tip. The bill is large slightly curved and reminiscent of the bills of hornbill
s; in fact, the bird is sometimes erroneously referred to as a hornbill. The plumage
of the adult is pale grey on the head, chest, belly and back, becoming paler and barred lower down on the belly. The wings are darker grey with dark tips on the feathers. The tail is dark grey on top and barred underneath with a black band and white tip at the end. The feet and legs are black, and the eye is surrounded by prominent red skin. The Channel-billed Cuckoo is a strong flier
, with a distinctive, almost hawk-like cruciform flight silhouette. In flight the wingspan is around 1 m, with the wings held stiffly. There is some sexual dimorphism
in both plumage and dimensions, the female having a smaller bill and paler, more barred undersides.
The juvenile is similar to the adult but has pale tips to the feathers of the wings, and the rest of the plumage is buff instead of pale grey. The bill is less massive and dirty pink in colour, and the skin around the eye is not red.
, New Guinea
, the Bismarck Archipelago
, and the islands of eastern Indonesia
was far west as Sulawesi
. The species is a permanent resident in the Bismarck Archipelago, Flores
and Sulawesi. Elsewhere within its range it is migratory
. Birds breeding in Australia range from north eastern West Australia through the Northern Territory
and Queensland
down into eastern New South Wales
down as far as Sydney
. A few stragglers reach the eastern tip of Victoria
, but are not thought to breed there. Vagrant
birds have reached New Zealand
and New Caledonia
.
After the breeding season, in March and April, birds breeding in Australia begin to migrate northwards to their wintering grounds in New Guinea and Indonesia. Birds breeding in New South Wales begin leaving earlier, in February and March. The migration route is across the Torres Strait
, travelling individually or in small groups. From New Guinea they migrate across the nearby islands as far as Timor and the Moluccas. It is not known if the species breeds in New Guinea, as some birds are present there all year. Migrating Channel-billed Cuckoos begin to return to Australia in October.
Unusually for cuckoos, which take insect prey, but like the closely related koel
s, fruit forms a major part of the diet of Channel-billed Cuckoos. Fruits taken include those of several species of Ficus
figs, the seeds of eucalyptus
trees, the fruits of trees in the family Loranthaceae
as well as the fruits of the introduced
Black Mulberry
. Also taken are insects, including beetles, butterflies and grasshoppers, and the nestlings and eggs of birds, including Apostlebird
s, Magpie-lark
s and Noisy Miner
s. Birds typically feed in the canopy of large trees, sometimes in groups and occasionally with other fruit eating birds such as Australasian Figbird
s and cuckoo-shrike
s.
Channel-billed Cuckoos are brood parasite
s; instead of raising their own young, they lay eggs
in the nests
of other birds. They are thought to form pair bond
s for the duration of a breeding season. Their mating behaviour has been described as involving calling
and gift-giving, with the male presenting items of food such as insect
s to the female. Pairs also work together in order to aid the laying of eggs in host nests; the male will fly over the nest in order to provoke the nest occupants into a mobbing response, whereupon the female will slip into the nest and lay an egg. Alternatively the pair may work together by attacking an incubating
bird, driving it off the nest and allowing the female to lay.
The host species varies depending on the location; the most commonly targeted hosts are crow
s, currawong
s, butcherbird
s and Australian Magpie
s. Several eggs can be laid in a single nest, sometimes by different females. Often resembling those of currawongs and magpies (but not crows), the eggs vary in colour and pattern, measuring 48 x 32 mm. They can be a reddish- or yellowish-brown to dull white, with darker brown splotches. The incubation period for this species is unknown. Upon hatching the chicks are altricial
, being blind and naked. Unlike many other cuckoos, the chicks of the Channel-billed Cuckoo do not eject the other host eggs upon hatching or kill the host's chicks, but these seldom survive as the cuckoo chick is able to monopolise the supply of food. The chicks are fully feathered within four weeks, and leave the nest to clamber about on the branches, although chicks are fed for a number of weeks by the host parents after fledging
.
The Channel-billed Cuckoo is not considered threatened by human activities, and as such is listed as least concern
by the IUCN. In fact, it has benefited from human activities; along with the Australian Koel its numbers have increased in some parts of its range due to increases in host species caused by extensive planting of gardens around Australian cities.
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
in the Cuculidae
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
family. It is monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
within the genus Scythrops. The species is the largest brood parasite
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
in the world, and the largest cuckoo.
It is found in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
; additionally, it is vagrant in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The species is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
over part of its range. There are three subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, one migratory, the other two resident. Its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and subtropical or tropical mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
forests. The species is listed as least concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN.
Taxonomy
The only member of the genus Scythrops, the Channel-billed Cuckoo was first described by ornithologist John LathamJohn Latham (ornithologist)
John Latham was an English physician, naturalist and author. He was born at Eltham in Kent, and was the eldest son of John Latham, a surgeon there, and his mother was a descendant of the Sothebys, in Yorkshire....
in 1790. Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
skuthro-/σκυθρο- 'angry' or 'sullen', and ops/ωψ 'face', 'eye' or 'countenance'. The specific epithet novaehollandiae means of New Holland
New Holland (Australia)
New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
, hence Australian.
There are three subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
: the nominate Scythrops novaehollandiae novaehollandiae of Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas, Scythrops novaehollandiae fordi in Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, and Scythrops novaehollandiae schoddei in the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
.
Description
The Channel-billed Cuckoo is the world's largest cuckoo, measuring between 58–66 cm (23–26 in) long and weighing between 550-930 grams (19.4–32.8 oz). The billBeak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
is bi-coloured, with a grey base becoming straw-coloured at the tip. The bill is large slightly curved and reminiscent of the bills of hornbill
Hornbill
Hornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...
s; in fact, the bird is sometimes erroneously referred to as a hornbill. The plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
of the adult is pale grey on the head, chest, belly and back, becoming paler and barred lower down on the belly. The wings are darker grey with dark tips on the feathers. The tail is dark grey on top and barred underneath with a black band and white tip at the end. The feet and legs are black, and the eye is surrounded by prominent red skin. The Channel-billed Cuckoo is a strong flier
Bird flight
Flight is the main mode of locomotion used by most of the world's bird species. Flight assists birds while feeding, breeding and avoiding predators....
, with a distinctive, almost hawk-like cruciform flight silhouette. In flight the wingspan is around 1 m, with the wings held stiffly. There is some sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
in both plumage and dimensions, the female having a smaller bill and paler, more barred undersides.
Distribution and movements
The Channel-billed Cuckoo has a widespread distribution across northern and eastern AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
, and the islands of eastern Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
was far west as Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
. The species is a permanent resident in the Bismarck Archipelago, Flores
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...
and Sulawesi. Elsewhere within its range it is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
. Birds breeding in Australia range from north eastern West Australia through the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
down into eastern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
down as far as Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. A few stragglers reach the eastern tip of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, but are not thought to breed there. Vagrant
Vagrancy (biology)
Vagrancy is a phenomenon in biology whereby individual animals appear well outside their normal range; individual animals which exhibit vagrancy are known as vagrants. The term accidental is sometimes also used...
birds have reached New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
.
After the breeding season, in March and April, birds breeding in Australia begin to migrate northwards to their wintering grounds in New Guinea and Indonesia. Birds breeding in New South Wales begin leaving earlier, in February and March. The migration route is across the Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
, travelling individually or in small groups. From New Guinea they migrate across the nearby islands as far as Timor and the Moluccas. It is not known if the species breeds in New Guinea, as some birds are present there all year. Migrating Channel-billed Cuckoos begin to return to Australia in October.
Diet
Koel
The true koels, Eudynamys, are a genus of cuckoos from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. They are large sexually dimorphic cuckoos which eat fruits and insects and have loud distinctive calls. They are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.In New Zealand the Long-tailed...
s, fruit forms a major part of the diet of Channel-billed Cuckoos. Fruits taken include those of several species of Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
figs, the seeds of eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
trees, the fruits of trees in the family Loranthaceae
Loranthaceae
Loranthaceae is a family of flowering plants, which has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemi-parasites, all of them except three having the mistletoe habit...
as well as the fruits of the introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
Black Mulberry
Black Mulberry
Morus nigra, the Black mulberry, is a species of mulberry. It is native to southwestern Asia, where it has been cultivated for so long that its precise natural range is unknown.-Description:...
. Also taken are insects, including beetles, butterflies and grasshoppers, and the nestlings and eggs of birds, including Apostlebird
Apostlebird
The Apostlebird , also known as the Grey Jumper, is a quick-moving, gray or black bird about 13 inches long. It is a native to Australia where it roams woodlands, eating insects and seeds at, or near, ground level...
s, Magpie-lark
Magpie-lark
The Magpie-lark is a conspicuous Australian bird of small to medium size, also known as the Mudlark in Victoria and Western Australia, the Murray Magpie in South Australia, and as the Peewee in New South Wales and Queensland...
s and Noisy Miner
Noisy Miner
The Noisy Miner is a bird common to the eastern and southern states of Australia. It ranges from northern Queensland along the eastern coast to South Australia and Tasmania. Its typical diet consists of nectar, fruit and insects, and occasionally it feeds on small reptiles or amphibians...
s. Birds typically feed in the canopy of large trees, sometimes in groups and occasionally with other fruit eating birds such as Australasian Figbird
Australasian Figbird
The Australasian Figbird is a conspicuous medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern Australia, southern Papua New Guinea, and the Kai Islands in Indonesia. It was formerly considered a subspecies of S...
s and cuckoo-shrike
Cuckoo-shrike
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the Campephagidae family are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia...
s.
Breeding behaviour
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
s; instead of raising their own young, they lay eggs
Bird egg
Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17...
in the nests
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
of other birds. They are thought to form pair bond
Pair bond
In biology, a pair bond is the strong affinity that develops in some species between the males and females in a pair, potentially leading to breeding. Pair-bonding is a term coined in the 1940s that is frequently used in sociobiology and evolutionary psychology circles...
s for the duration of a breeding season. Their mating behaviour has been described as involving calling
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
and gift-giving, with the male presenting items of food such as insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s to the female. Pairs also work together in order to aid the laying of eggs in host nests; the male will fly over the nest in order to provoke the nest occupants into a mobbing response, whereupon the female will slip into the nest and lay an egg. Alternatively the pair may work together by attacking an incubating
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
bird, driving it off the nest and allowing the female to lay.
The host species varies depending on the location; the most commonly targeted hosts are crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s, currawong
Currawong
Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
s, butcherbird
Butcherbird
Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the three species of currawong...
s and Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
s. Several eggs can be laid in a single nest, sometimes by different females. Often resembling those of currawongs and magpies (but not crows), the eggs vary in colour and pattern, measuring 48 x 32 mm. They can be a reddish- or yellowish-brown to dull white, with darker brown splotches. The incubation period for this species is unknown. Upon hatching the chicks are altricial
Altricial
Altricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born...
, being blind and naked. Unlike many other cuckoos, the chicks of the Channel-billed Cuckoo do not eject the other host eggs upon hatching or kill the host's chicks, but these seldom survive as the cuckoo chick is able to monopolise the supply of food. The chicks are fully feathered within four weeks, and leave the nest to clamber about on the branches, although chicks are fed for a number of weeks by the host parents after fledging
Fledge
Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state...
.
Relationship with humans
Channel-billed Cuckoos are often shy and retiring and are better known for their calls. In northern Australia their migration coincides with the beginning of the rainy season, leading to the species being given a range of colloquial names such as storm-bird, flood-bird or rain-bird. The fruigivorous habits of the species, coupled with its raptor-like appearance, have also resulted in it being known as the fig hawk.The Channel-billed Cuckoo is not considered threatened by human activities, and as such is listed as least concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN. In fact, it has benefited from human activities; along with the Australian Koel its numbers have increased in some parts of its range due to increases in host species caused by extensive planting of gardens around Australian cities.