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Fan-tailed cuckoo        Images © Mark A. Chappell

Fan-tailed cuckoos are sumer visitors or residents along the east coast of Australia, where they are common forest birds.   Like all Australian cuckoos, they are nest parasites, laying mainly in the nests of scrubwrens, warblers, and other small passerines.   They have a simple but loud trill, with downward inflection, which often seems to be coming from every direction during the spring.   These were photographed in Wollongong, New South Wales.

  • Canon 1D3 or 40D, 500 mm IS lens plus 1.4X or 2X extender, fill-in flash (2009)