Cuckoo-Shrikes: Campephagidae

Cuckoo-shrikes are usually monogamous (muh-NAH-guh-mus), have only one mate, and most have permanent territories. Ornithologists, scientists that study birds, know very little about the breeding seasons of cuckoo-shrikes, but they have observed that, except for the white-winged triller and the ground cuckoo-shrike, most species breed during or just after the rainy season and nest solitarily, alone. Males of some of the bigger species use a courtship display, behaviors that lead to mating, in which they alternately lift each wing while calling loudly. In many of the cuckoo-shrike species, male and female together build a small, shallow, cup-shaped nest of small twigs, grasses, moss, lichens (LIE-kenz), roots, and bark. They often bind the nest with spider webs and line it with them as well. The parents typically place the nest on a high horizontal or forked branch of a tree. The female lays a clutch of one to five eggs, but usually two or three. The males of some species help to incubate the eggs, but most often this is the female's duty. Incubation of the eggs takes fourteen to twenty-five days, but in many species the process can take three or more weeks. Both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after thirteen to twenty-four days.

When foraging, cuckoo-shrikes generally poke among the foliage, leaves, of trees and bushes, but some also explore trunks and branches for prey, animals hunted for food. The birds often pursue insects into the air, and occasionally pick insects off the ground.