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.
Audio by Marc Anderson