White-browed Coucal

Centropus superciliosus

Other Names

  Lark-heeled Cuckoo   Coucal à sourcils blancs   Weißbrauenkuckuck   Cucal Cejiblanco   Vitbrynad sporrgök   Wenkbrauwspoorkoekoek   Cucal cigliabianche

World: Africa, from S of the Congo forests, through sw to ne Zaire, then through s Sudan, Ethiopia and w Somalia

Kenya: The most common of the coucals found across most of the country although less common, or absent from the more arid regions.

Despite its size (about 16", 410mm in length) and striking plumage, this can be a difficult bird to see and photograph. Its habit of skulking in shubbery, undergrowth and dense waterside vegetation means that it is heard crashing about, more often than it is seen. However, as the photo above shows, you only need to see a small amount of the bird to confirm its identification since the broad, yellowish-white supercilliary stripe is a unique feature amongst Kenyan coucals.

It has a wide diet consisting mostly of insects, but it will also take young birds and eggs. While it will feed on the ground it is easily disturbed, returning to cover in a clumsy, awkward fashion (Zimmerman et al use the wonderfully graphic phrase "flops back into cover" which describes their movement perfectly).

As with other members of the Centropidinae, the White-browed Coucal is non-parasitic. The males construct a nest, they then incubate the eggs and provide most of the feeding and care for the young.

We've found Samburu to be a particularly good place to get good sightings of White-browed Coucals. The riverside vegetation along the Uaso Nyiro makes a perfect habitat for them.