A large, robust, ungainly, cuckoo with rufous wings and a long, broad tail.It almost always has an obviously barred rump and upper tail coverts, differentiating it from other coucals. In the north of its range, the adult’s underparts and back are streaked, and it has a distinctive white eyebrow. In the south of the range it is unstreaked and lacks the white eyebrow, but the dark-capped adult is the only coucal in its range. It often moves clumsily, preferring to clamber about in rank vegetation or walk on the ground foraging for insects or small vertebrates. Its flight is labored and heavy. It sings a deep descending bubbling series, “bu-bu-bu bu bu bu bu”, that falls and then rise in pitch.