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The Levaillant's cuckoo, a bird named in honor of the French explorer and ornithologist François Le Vaillant, is a striking species with a length of approximately 37.5 cm. This bird is characterized by a longer tail than its relative, the pied cuckoo, and a throat adorned with more pronounced streaking.
Observers should note the two distinct color morphs of Levaillant's cuckoo. The light morph boasts a black plumage with a subtle bluish or greenish gloss, while the throat streaking may extend onto the sides. The primaries and rectrix tips are white. In contrast, the dark morph is predominantly black, save for the white primary patch and white spots on the outer tail feathers. Juveniles present with a brown upper body, rufous wing-coverts, and rectrix tips, along with a buff forehead, face, and underparts, and more heavily streaked throat.
Levaillant's cuckoo favors bushy environments within its African range.
This cuckoo is a resident breeding species throughout Africa, south of the Sahara.
A master of deception, Levaillant's cuckoo engages in brood parasitism, laying its eggs in the nests of bulbuls and babblers. Both male and female engage in acrobatic flights to distract the host birds, with the male continuing the distraction while the female lays her egg. Notably, the cuckoo chick does not expel other eggs or nestlings from the nest and leaves it after about ten days, reaching independence in four to six weeks.
