This large cuckoo has rich brown upperparts which are barred black, and pale buff underparts and face boldly streaked brown and black.  The very long tail is as long as the body.  The call is a repeated loud harsh hissing long drawn out shriek “zzwheesht” with a rising inflection.

The diet is mainly large invertebrates such as weta, stick insects, spiders, beetles and bugs.  Skinks, geckos, small birds, eggs, chicks, berries and fruit are also eaten.

Most Long-tailed Cuckoo over winter in the tropical Pacific and return to New Zealand in early October to breed in the same area year after year.  A single creamy-white or very pale pink egg with brownish blotches is laid in the nest of either a Whitehead (N.I.) or a Yellowhead or Brown Creeper (S.I.) that is larger than the host’s eggs.  The chick fledges at about 21 days and is fed by both foster parents and their helpers for at least 4 weeks.

The Log-tailed Cuckoo in New Zealand is probably declining in line with the decline of the host species (especially Yellowhead) and the clearance of subtropical rainforest in parts of their wintering range.

Although Long-tailed Cuckoo are occasionally seen on Tiri each summer, they appear to be just passing through as there is no evidence of them breeding here.

Photography by:  Ian Southey ©

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.
Moon, G The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds.