For whatever reason, I've not been sure of, I've been attracted to the coucals. Up until our recent trip to Uganda, I'd encountered two species of coucal: (a) the white-browed coucal in Nairobi NP in Kenya (posted on June 27, 2014), which we recently saw again in Uganda; and (b) the Senegal coucal in Hwange NP in Zimbabwe, which I originally identified as a Burchell's coucal at the time, but identifiers on iNaturalist later overwhelmingly identified it as a Senegal coucal (posted on July 7, 2018). On our recent trip to Uganda, we also encountered the blue-headed coucal and black coucal for the first time. They are four of the 29 species of coucal. Now I find that they are part of the cuckoo family, which helps me to understand why I like the coucals, because I like the cuckoos.
Wikipedia notes that the black coucal "is a generally uncommon bird with a very wide range" and is listed by the IUCN as of Least Concern because the population seems to be holding steady. We saw one in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda.
In breeding plumage, like we saw it, it is one of the more handsome birds I've seen: black, including bill, iris, legs and feet; with rufous wings. The featured photo in Birds of the World is just amazing. Outside of the breeding season, the upper parts are dark brown with rufous barring.
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| Illustration of the black coucal from Birds of the World. |
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| Range map of the black coucal from Birds of the World. |
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