Ground Cuckooshrike

Cuckooshrikes and AlliesBlack-faced Cuckooshrike Ground Cuckooshrike

Endemic to Australia, the Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima) is said to occur mainly in open woodland, scrubland, open and arid grasslands throughout inland Australia. Whilst they mainly occur inland west of the Great Dividing Range, they have also been observed on the east coast. Despite their large range across the continent, they are an uncommon species. Atlas of Living Australia have observations of the Ground Cuckoo shrike across Australia.

The largest of the cuckoo-shrikes (measuring around 33–37 cm in length), the Ground Cuckooshrike is a slender, long-legged bird. The adult bird has a pale grey head and upper body, with pale yellow eyes. Its lower back, rump and underparts are white and finely barred with black, that contrast with the black wings and the slightly forked black tail (a characteristic specific to the Ground Cuckoo-shrike).

The immature bird is similar in appearance to the adult, but has fine, broken black barrings on the throat and upper parts and dark eyes with a dark eye-line, instead of a black mask with pale yellow eyes.³

In flight they can sometimes appear to be black-and-white, and may be mistaken for an Australian Magpie.³

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum: Vertebrata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Passeriformes
• Family: Campephagidae
• Genus: Coracina
• Species: Coracina maxima

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Cuckooshrikes and AlliesBlack-faced Cuckooshrike Ground Cuckooshrike

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