Large Cuckoo-Shrike (Coracina macei)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: CORVIDAE Crows, Jays, Magpies
Scientific name: Coracina macei
English name: Large Cuckoo-Shrike
Characteristic: Size 30 cm. A male is a large grey bird with dark stripes across its face; breast grey; belly and under tail coverts white. A smaller female has less distinct facial stripes, and always with streaks on belly. An immature is similar to a female but usually wholly adorned with stripes from breast, belly to under tail coverts.
Distribution: India, Southern China, Sotheast Asia, Hainan, the Andamans and Java.
Habitat: Dry Dipterocarp forest, mixed deciduous forest, sparse dry evergreen forest, open grounds from the plain up to 1,800 m. altitude. In Sakaerat, it is often seen in the dry dipterocarp forest, also recorded living in dry evergreen forest, forest plantation and grass fields among dry dipterocarp forest.
Habit: Living in pairs or small parties of 5-6 birds, perching high on tree tops or exposed branches. Its usual diet is varied kinds of insects gleaned from canopy foliage, or caught in the air; some fruits, for instance figs, are also devoured. It breeds from March to June when a coares cup-shaped nest is built high in tree fork to accommodate a clutch of 2-3 eggs; the egg is yellow or light green marked all over with brown. The incubation period is 14-15 days.
Status: A common resident bird in Sakaerat forest.
