CreatureData

Violaceous coucal

Centropus violaceus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832

LCLeast Concernbirds

The violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 500 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus)
Photo: Lesson, Compléments de Buffon, IX p. 251 pl. 18 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the violaceous coucal

Weight
500 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
3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the violaceous coucal 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 violaceous coucal 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 violaceous coucal?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The violaceous coucal or violet coucal (Centropus violaceus) is a cuckoo species in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Due to a large range and a population that is not decreasing at a sufficient rate for immediate concern, it is classified as Least concern.

From the Wikipedia article “Violaceous coucal” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Violaceous_coucal&oldid=1354934659), 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 violaceous coucal endangered?

The violaceous coucal 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 violaceous coucal classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCuculiformes
  5. familyCuculidae
  6. genusCentropus
  7. SpeciesCentropus violaceus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832
Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Violet coucalEnglish
  • Violet coucalEnglish
  • كوكال بنفسجيArabic
  • cucal violaciCatalan
  • kukačka fialováCzech
  • kukačka purpurováCzech
  • cwcal fioledWelsh
  • Violet SporegøgDanish
  • PurpurkuckuckGerman
  • viola kukaloEsperanto
  • Cucal violáceoSpanish
  • ronk-kannuskäguEstonian
  • violettikukaaliFinnish
  • Coucal violetFrench
  • kék bozótkakukkHungarian
  • Cucal violaceoItalian
  • スミレバンケンJapanese
  • violetinė pentinuotoji gegutėLithuanian
  • Violette SpoorkoekoekDutch
  • fiolettsporegjøkNorwegian
  • kukal fioletowyPolish
  • cucal-violáceoPortuguese
  • Фиолетовый кукальRussian
  • Пурпурная шпорцевая кукушкаRussian
  • ostrohár fialovýSlovak
  • Ljubičasti kukalSerbian
  • violett sporrgökSwedish
  • Mor KukalTurkish
  • коукал фіолетовийUkrainian
  • 紫鴉鵑Chinese
  • 紫鸦鹃Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the violaceous coucal

Other species in the same genus Centropus.

CompareViolaceous coucal vs Greater coucalViolaceous coucal vs Lesser coucalViolaceous coucal vs Senegal coucalViolaceous coucal vs Black coucal

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the violaceous coucal?

An adult violaceous coucal weighs 500 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the violaceous coucal live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the violaceous coucal for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the violaceous coucal endangered?

The violaceous coucal 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 violaceous coucal?

The violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus) 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). Violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/violaceous-coucal

MLA

“Violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/violaceous-coucal.

BibTeX
@misc{violaceous_coucal_2026,
  title = {Violaceous coucal (Centropus violaceus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/violaceous-coucal},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}