Olive-capped coua
Coua olivaceiceps (Sharpe, 1873)
The olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 180 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the olive-capped coua
- Weight
- 180 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the olive-capped coua live?
Not recorded
What is the olive-capped coua?
The olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.
It is endemic to southwest Madagascar.
The olive-capped coua was formally described in 1873 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe under the binomial name Sericosomus olivaceiceps. Sharpe specified the type locality as southwestern Madagascar. He had been sent a specimen by the French naturalist Alfred Grandidier. The olive-capped coua is now one of ten species placed in the genus Coua, all of which are endemic to Madagascar. The specific epithet olivaceiceps combines the Modern Latin olivaceus meaning "olive-coloured" with Latin -ceps meaning "capped".
The olive-capped coua was formerly treated as a subspecies of the red-capped coua (Coua ruficeps). It was elevated to species status based on differences in plumage and vocalisation.
From the Wikipedia article “Olive-capped coua” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olive-capped_coua&oldid=1314777986), 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 olive-capped coua endangered?
The olive-capped coua is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the olive-capped coua classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusCoua
- SpeciesCoua olivaceiceps (Sharpe, 1873)
Synonyms Coua ruficeps olivaceiceps, Sericosomus olivaceiceps
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- kukalka zelenohlaváCzech
- Olivenkronet SilkegøgDanish
- WeißkehlcouaGerman
- Olivkappen-SeidenkuckuckGerman
- Rostkappen-SeidenkuckuckGerman
- Weißkehl-SeidenkuckuckGerman
- olivĉapa kuaoEsperanto
- Cúa capiolivaSpanish
- Coua à tête oliveFrench
- maslinastokapa kuaCroatian
- OlijfkapcouaDutch
- OlijfkopcouaDutch
- olivenkronekoaNorwegian
- kuja oliwkowaPolish
- cua-de-coroa-oliváceaPortuguese
- koa zelenohlaváSlovak
- spikskogskouaSwedish
- 绿顶马岛鹃Chinese
Relatives of the olive-capped coua
Other species in the same genus Coua.
Blue coua
Coua caerulea
Delalande's coua
Coua delalandei
Crested coua
Coua cristata
Coquerel's coua
Coua coquereli
Giant coua
Coua gigas
Red-capped coua
Coua ruficeps
CompareOlive-capped coua vs Blue couaOlive-capped coua vs Delalande's couaOlive-capped coua vs Crested couaOlive-capped coua vs Coquerel's coua
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the olive-capped coua?
An adult olive-capped coua weighs 180 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the olive-capped coua endangered?
The olive-capped coua 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 olive-capped coua?
The olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps) 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.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-capped-coua
“Olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-capped-coua.
@misc{olive_capped_coua_2026,
title = {Olive-capped coua (Coua olivaceiceps)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-capped-coua},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}