Common Cicadabird (Edolisoma [Coracina] tenuirostre) (2024)

Common Cicadabird (Edolisoma [Coracina] tenuirostre) Alternate name(s): "Cicadabird", "Slender-billed Cicadabird", "Jardine Caterpillar-eater", "Caterpillar-catcher", "Jardine Triller" Size: 24-26 cm Weight: 60-75 g

Description Classification Distribution Sightings Photos Breeding Nest Eggs Behaviour Food Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description	Taxonomy, classification See Common Cicadabird at Wikipedia .
Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitatand range	Sightings Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "tenuirostre"

ADULT

MALE

Near-lateral/ventral view of a male Common Cicadabird;mellow early morning light gives it a brownish hue
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, December 2019]

Lateral view of a male Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy ofE. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, December 2016]

Lateral view of a male Common Cicadabird
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, December 2013]

Lateral view of a male Common Cicadabird, different posture
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, December 2013]

Dorsal view of a male Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, February 2014]

Dorsal view of a male Common Cicadabird, different posture
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, December 2013]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, November 2018]

Frontal view of a female Common Cicadabird looking sideways(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[D'Aguilar NP, near Brisbane, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead Reserve, Anstead, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, December 2012]

Lateral view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, November 2018]

Race "melvillensis"

ADULT

FEMALE

Near-dorsal view of a female Common Cicadabird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Behaviour

Mimicking cicada calls, Common Cicadabirds wait for a response. If theyget one, they will pounce on their prey.

Male Common Cicadabird observed by us calling by mimicking a cicada(upper left) and then checking for any response; the bird mimicked both the long-drawn rattle of a cicada and the short burst that canbe heard during take-off
[Deriah Aboriginal Area, NSW, December 2013]

Food, Diet

As their names already suggest, Common Cicadabirds have a preference forCicadas, caterpillars and other relatively large insects.

Male Common Cicadabird with its prey, a caterpillar (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, February 2014]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

For comparison,here a few examples of male cicadas' tymbal clicks that these calls aremimicking (there are 200 species of cicadas in Australia, with varioussound patterns).

More Common Cicadabird sound recordings are available atxeno-canto.org.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of ourcontributors.The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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