Coucal Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache has been placed in a lovely reserve in which the Green Coucal can be spotted. The cache is only available from 07:30 - 17:00 and no entrance fee is required.
BYOP
if you manage to spot one of these stunning birds near GZ please upload a picture
A coucal is one of about 30 species of birds in the cuckoo family. All of them belong in the subfamily Centropodinae and the genus Centropus. Unlike many Old World cuckoos, coucals are not brood parasites. On the other hand they do have their own reproductive peculiarity: all members of the genus are to varying degrees sex-role reversed so that the smaller male provides most of the parental care.
Description
Many coucals have a long claw on their hind toe (hallux). The genus name from Greek kentron, a spike and pous for foot describe this hallux claw. The feet have minute spurs and this is responsible for the German term for coucals Sporenkuckucke. The common name is perhaps derived from the French coucou and alouette (for the long lark like claw).[3] (Cuvier, in Newton 1896) The length of the claw can be about 68-76% of the tarsus length in the African Black Coucal C. grillii and Lesser Coucal C. bengalensis. Only the Short-toed Coucal C. rectunguis is an exception with the hallux claw of only 23% of the tarsus length. Thread like feather structures (elongated sheaths of the growing feathers that are sometimes termed trichoptiles[4][5]) are found on the head and neck of hatchlings and can be as long as 20mm. Nestlings can look spiny.[6] Many are opportunistic predators, Centropus phasianus is known to attack birds caught in mist nets[7] while White-browed Coucals Centropus superciliosus are attracted to smoke from grass fires where they forage for insects and small mammals escaping from the fire.[6]
Coucals generally make nests inside dense vegetation and they usually have the top covered but some species have the top open. Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus, Greater Coucal C. sinensis and Madagascar Coucal C. toulou sometimes build an open nest while some species always build open nests (the Bay Coucal C. celebensis)[6]
Some coucal species have been seen to fly while carrying their young.
Species
Andaman Coucal or Brown Coucal, Centropus andamanensis
Gabon Coucal, Centropus anselli
White-necked Coucal or Pied Coucal, Centropus ateralbus
Lesser Coucal, Centropus bengalensis
Burchell's Coucal, Centropus burchelli
Black-billed Coucal or Lesser Black Coucal, Centropus bernsteini
Green-billed Coucal, Centropus chlororhynchos
Bay Coucal, Centropus celebensis
Biak Coucal, Centropus chalybeus
Centropus colossus (Extinct, known from the quaternary Green Waterhole Cave, Tantanoola, South Australia)
Coppery-tailed Coucal, Centropus cupreicaudus
Goliath Coucal, Centropus goliath
Black Coucal, Centropus grillii
Black-throated Coucal, Centropus leucogaster
Black-faced Coucal, Centropus melanops
Ivory-billed Coucal or Greater Black Coucal, Centropus menbeki
Buff-headed Coucal, Centropus milo
Blue-headed Coucal, Centropus monachus
Sunda Coucal, Centropus nigrorufus
Pheasant Coucal, Centropus phasianinus Timor Pheasant Coucal or Timor Coucal, Centropus phasianinus mui - might be a full species Centropus mui (long known only by the holotype (a female) collected in 1974 but apparently rediscovered in the early 2000s)[9]
Short-toed Coucal, Centropus rectunguis
Senegal Coucal, Centropus senegalensis
Greater Coucal, Centropus sinensis Centropus parroti (?[10])
Kai Coucal, Centropus spilopterus
Black-hooded Coucal, Centropus steerii
White-browed Coucal, Centropus superciliosus
Malagasy Coucal or Madagascar Coucal, Centropus toulou Assumption Island Coucal, Centropus toulou assumptionis - doubtfully distinct; extinct (c.1920s)
Rufous Coucal, Centropus unirufus
Violaceous Coucal, Centropus violaceus
Philippine Coucal, Centropus viridis
*** well done FTF Technonut ***
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybj
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