Slaty Cuckooshrike

The slaty cuckooshrike is an Indonesian island endemic confined to the Sula and Banggai groups. Its name reflects the largely slate-grey plumage, while the scientific name Coracina schistacea preserves the same colour reference. It was originally described as Artamides schistaceus by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1878 and is now placed with the cuckooshrikes in Campephagidae (IOC World Bird List; Sharpe 1878).

Field records place the species in moist lowland forest and mangroves. Surveys on Taliabu found it from sea level to about 1,000 m, while on Peleng it was seen and heard near 1,000 m; observers also noted a single-wing flick. Accessible sources provide little secure information on diet or nesting, so those details are omitted. Its range should be understood as the eastern island groups rather than mainland Sulawesi generally (Rheindt et al. 2014).