Ground Cuckooshrike

I have travelled extensively across Australia and I always kept an eye out for the Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima), hunting for them in places. It was not until I was 20,000 kilometres in and about to finish my first lap that I finally saw them. And then again and again. Birding is just sometimes like that. I was driving north from Hughenden to Mareeba that I started seeing them. 

They are easy to identify, particularly in flight as their back is black with grey up the centre of the body. I nearly crashed my campervan the first time! Several times afterwards, I saw them along the road and turned back to try to get close. However, every group was unco-operative. They seemed to be able to spot me from half a kilometre away and they would just take off. I was thrilled just to get any shot of them. 

While they are deemed to be widespread, these Cuckooshrike are nomadic, as you can see in the eBird range map above.