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11

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

(Macropygia phasianella)
Alternate name(s): "Slender-billed Cuckoo-Dove", "Brown Pigeon",
"Large-tailed Pigeon", "Pheasant Pigeon", "Brownie"
Aboriginal name(s): Race "phasianella": "gabudjah", "gubudji" [eastern bundjalung];
Race "robinsoni": "judulu" [ngadjon]

Size: 40-45 cm
Weight: 205-270 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Brown Cuckoo-Dove at Wikipedia .

Click here for classification information

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "phasianella"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove; note the purple hue (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cooroy, QLD, December 2017]

Frontal/ventral view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Creek Reservoir, QLD, February 2019]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Creek Reservoir, QLD, February 2019]

Lateral view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hillview Court Reserve, Dayboro, QLD, May 2020]

Lateral view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Creek Reservoir, QLD, February 2019]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female(?) Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a female(?) Brown Cuckoo-Dove - photo taken with a flash; when observed, the bird was picking up rests of fruit from the ground, possibly from scats of other birds
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, August 2009]

Dorsal view of a female(?) Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo taken with a flash)
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, August 2009]

PAIR

Dorsal view of a pair of Brown Cuckoo-Doves, with the male on the right and the female on the left; the female lacks the purple hues visible in the male's plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, March 2018]

Dorsal view of a pair of Brown Cuckoo-Doves, with the male on the right and the female on the left; the male is clearly going through a tail moult (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, March 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove - note the scalloping (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2013]

Lateral view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2013]

Lateral view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove taking a fruit (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Near Coolum, Sunshine Coast, QLD, January 2013]

Lateral view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Raleigh, NSW, May 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2013]

Rescued juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove after an accidental run-in with farm machinery (photo courtesy of R. Oakes)
[Sunshine Coast hinterland, QLD, September 2015]

Race "robinsoni"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male(?) Brown Cuckoo-Dove; note the purple hue - the mottled appearance may indicate that the bird is moulting (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Dorsal view of a male(?) Brown Cuckoo-Dove (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Behaviour

Here some Brown Cuckoo-Dove TLC, with the male on the left and the female on the right; this is part of a bonding ritual(photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, September 2016]

Two male Brown Cuckoo-Doves sparring (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, September 2016]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Brown Cuckoo-Dove taking a fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Brown Cuckoo-Dove taking a fruit (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Near Coolum, Sunshine Coast, QLD, January 2013]

Lateral view of a male Brown Cuckoo-Dove having a drink of water (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hillview Court Reserve, Dayboro, QLD, May 2020]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Doves and pigeons do not, like other birds, open their bills when calling, but they rather "hum" through their noses, with the bill closed.

brcdove_20160311.m4a phasianella
(NE NSW)
Contact calls © MD
brcdove_20160314.m4a phasianella
(S QLD)
Contact calls © MD
brcdove_art_20131125.mp3 phasianella
(SE QLD)
Contact calls (Q&A?) © ART

We have also recorded the wing beat of a Brown Cuckoo-Dove.

brcdove_20140521_2.mp3 phasianella
(NE NSW)
Departure from ground © MD

More Brown Cuckoo-Dove sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.