📸 PhotoPhoto: Brian Ralphs from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Cuckoo-roller
Leptosomus discolor (Cuckoo-roller · オオブッポウソウ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its weight of about 222 g is similar to the weight of four chicken eggs (about 240 g) (Comparison).
- 💡 An academic journal recorded an incident in Moroni in the Comoros where children had two chicks taken from a nest in a box; a researcher raised them for ten days on chicken intestines, fish, and corned beef.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Cuckoo-roller is a bird living only in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Once classified as a cuckoo, it is now placed in its own distinct family close to rollers.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Males are grayer above with a white belly, a black eye stripe, a black band between the eyes, and a metallic gloss on the feathers. Females are rufous-brown above with a buff belly, and have 12 tail feathers.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It mainly preys on chameleons and large insects. Chicks show distinctive behavior when threatened, and the nest gives off a foul odor and black excrement.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2025) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22682975/280901247
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 280901247
- • wikidata.org — Q71118
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Male cuckoo roller.jpg
- • zenodo.org — content
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Brian Ralphs (photograph) and T. Michael Keesey (silhouette) · CC BY 4.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.