COMMON CICADABIRD

Common Cicadabird

On a warm Australian afternoon, when the air shivers with the chorus of cicadas, a slim, grey shadow glides through the treetops. It pauses, silent and still, then releases a high, buzzing call that blends so perfectly with the insect soundscape you might doubt you heard a bird at all. This is the Common Cicadabird—an elegant canopy hunter built for stealth, speed, and life among leaves.

Identification at a glance

• Male: Mostly slate-grey, neat and sleek, with a darker face and fine blackish bill; overall quite plain and streamlined.
• Female: Browner above with pale underparts marked by fine dark barring; more patterned than the male.
• Juvenile: Similar to the female, usually with heavier barring.

They hold themselves with a poised, horizontal stance, and the tail looks long and well controlled in flight. In the right light, the grey of the male can seem cool and smooth, like wet stone.

Voice: the “cicada” in the treetops

• The call is a high, insect-like buzz or drawn-out trill, often rising and falling, and can be mistaken for a cicada starting up.
• Typical phrases include a repeated, penetrating “zeee-zee-zee” or a smooth, metallic buzz.
• In summer, the sound blends into the hum of heat and leaves, making the bird easier to hear than to see.

Close your eyes and you may feel the sound vibrate lightly in your ears, as though part of the air itself.

Range and habitat

• Australia: Widespread in the north and along the east coast and ranges, from Cape York through Queensland and New South Wales to Victoria, and into parts of south-eastern South Australia. Generally absent from the dry interior and from Tasmania.
• Beyond Australia: Occurs through New Guinea and neighbouring islands, with numerous local forms.
• Favours the mid to upper canopy of:
  • Eucalypt forests and woodlands
  • Monsoon forest and rainforest margins
  • Paperbark swamps and mangroves
  • Large, mature street trees and treed parks

Imagine a corridor of eucalypts on a warm day: the leaves smell faintly of resin, the bark flakes under your fingers, and somewhere high above, the cicadabird slips between shadows.

Behaviour and diet

• Foraging style: Methodical and discreet. Picks insects from foliage and bark, and will sally out to snatch prey in short, precise flights.
• Diet: Cicadas, caterpillars, beetles, and other arboreal insects; it helps regulate seasonal insect surges.
• Social life: Often seen alone or in pairs; may join mixed flocks quietly. Not a showy bird—its confidence is in calm efficiency.

Breeding

• Nest: A neat, shallow cup set high on an open branch, woven from fine bark and plant fibres, often bound with spider web. It can look like a small knot on a limb from below.
• Clutch: Usually 2 eggs (occasionally 3), pale with speckling.
• Season: Spring to summer in southern Australia; earlier in the tropics.
• Parental care: Both adults incubate and feed the young, moving back and forth through the canopy with soft calls and careful, swift flights.

Seasonal movements

• In southern and eastern Australia, many birds are migratory—arriving in spring to breed and departing in autumn, often crossing the Torres Strait to New Guinea and nearby islands.
• In northern Australia, some populations are resident or move locally with seasonal resources.

Similar species and how to tell them apart

• Black-faced Cuckooshrike: Larger and heavier with a distinct black “mask” and paler underparts; often wing-flicks when perching.
• Varied Triller: More compact with a stouter bill; males often show warmer tones and both sexes can have more obvious barring and patterning.
• Tip: Listen for the cicada-like call and look high in the canopy for a sleeker, more uniformly grey male or a finely barred female.

Conservation and coexistence

• Status: Not globally threatened and adaptable where mature trees remain.
• Key pressures:
  • Clearing of woodlands and fragmentation of forests
  • Loss of tall, older trees in urban areas
• Simple actions that help:
  • Keep large native trees and layered vegetation
  • Plant insect-friendly native species (e.g., eucalypts, paperbarks, wattles)
  • Support wildlife-friendly urban planning and protect remnant habitat

Every canopy connection is a pathway for a cicadabird—a living bridge that keeps its quiet economy of insect hunting intact.

Field encounter: what to notice

• Sound: A fine, resonant buzz that seems to hover in the warm air.
• Sight: A slim, grey bird sliding between leaves near the top of the tallest trees.
• Feel: The stillness of the bird against a restless canopy—patient, precise, then gone.

The Common Cicadabird is a refined canopy specialist, known for its cicada-like call, gentle poise, and seasonal movements across northern and eastern Australia. Subtle in plumage but rich in behaviour, it’s a reminder that some of the most remarkable wildlife stories are told in hushed tones, in the highest leaves, where sound and light weave together.