CreatureData

Channel-billed cuckoo

Scythrops novaehollandiae Latham, 1790

LCLeast Concernbirds

The channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh 660 g to 708.2 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)
Photo: Bilby · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the channel-billed cuckoo

Weight
660 g – 708.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.08src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Photos of the channel-billed cuckoo

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)
Aviceda · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the channel-billed cuckoo live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The channel-billed cuckoo is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the channel-billed cuckoo?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. 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, 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. The species is listed as least concern by the IUCN.

From the Wikipedia article “Channel-billed cuckoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Channel-billed_cuckoo&oldid=1379919675), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the channel-billed cuckoo endangered?

The channel-billed cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the channel-billed cuckoo classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCuculiformes
  5. familyCuculidae
  6. genusScythrops
  7. SpeciesScythrops novaehollandiae Latham, 1790

Synonyms Cuculus praesagus, Scythrops novae, Scythrops novaehollandiae neglectus

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • Channel billed cuckooEnglish
  • سثروب جبارArabic
  • وقواق ذو منقار القناةArabic
  • cucut tucàCatalan
  • kukačka obrovskáCzech
  • cöel pigrychogWelsh
  • KæmpegøgDanish
  • NashornkuckuckGerman
  • FratzenkuckuckGerman
  • giganta kukoloEsperanto
  • Cuco tucánSpanish
  • hiidnokk-käguEstonian
  • jättikäkiFinnish
  • Coucou présageurFrench
  • velika kukavicaCroatian
  • sólyomkakukkHungarian
  • Karakalo australiaIndonesian
  • Cuculo scanalatoItalian
  • Cuculo becco scanalatoItalian
  • オオオニカッコウJapanese
  • duwanggirrgankgs
  • raukšlėtasnapė gegutėLithuanian
  • ReuzenkoekoekDutch
  • fikengjøkNorwegian
  • żłobiankaPolish
  • cuco-tucanoPortuguese
  • Исполинский коэльRussian
  • Исполинская кукушкаRussian
  • kukučka obrovskáSlovak
  • Kukavica izrezbarenog kljunaSerbian
  • jättegökSwedish
  • Tukan GuguğuTurkish
  • Oluk gagalı gugukTurkish
  • зозуля-велетUkrainian
  • Cu cu mỏ congVietnamese
  • 沟嘴鹃Chinese
  • 溝嘴鵑Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the channel-billed cuckoo

Other species in the same family Cuculidae.

LC, Least Concern
Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus)

Asian koel

Eudynamys scolopaceus

Cuculidae

CompareChannel-billed cuckoo vs Common cuckooChannel-billed cuckoo vs Asian koelChannel-billed cuckoo vs Jacobin cuckooChannel-billed cuckoo vs Greater coucal

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the channel-billed cuckoo?

An adult channel-billed cuckoo weighs 660 g – 708.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the channel-billed cuckoo live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the channel-billed cuckoo for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the channel-billed cuckoo endangered?

The channel-billed cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the channel-billed cuckoo?

The channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) belongs to the family Cuculidae in the order Cuculiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/channel-billed-cuckoo

MLA

“Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/channel-billed-cuckoo.

BibTeX
@misc{channel_billed_cuckoo_2026,
  title = {Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/channel-billed-cuckoo},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}