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Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos are medium-sized cuckoos. The head and back, including upperwings and tail, are dark-grey, while the front is all chestnut brown. The undertail shows narrow white barring. Males have slightly darker grey upperparts than females. The irises of both sexes are dark. The slightly down-curved bill is dark-grey, with a lighter grey base. Legs and feet are greyish-yellow. Juveniles have a pale-brown, unmarked front and a dark-chestnut head and back, with dark-grey barring on the tail.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Brush Cuckoo is available HERE .

There are 3 extant races of Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos which, taken altogether, have a range spanning from West Papua via New Guinea to far north-eastern Australia. Race "arfakianus" is found on the West Papuan islands and the western part of New Guinea, while race "weiskei" populates the eastern half of New Guinea.

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos, race "castaneiventris", are found only on the eastern (near-)coastal fringe of Cape York peninsula, QLD. They used to populate only the northern part of the peninsula, down to about Cape Melville, but have in recent years been found as far southward as Cairns, QLD, or just beyond.

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos can usually be found in rainforest, monsoon forest and sometimes in adjacent eucalypt woodland.

Race "castaneiventris"