The most welcome call to African ears, the rainbird only sings its soft bubbling cry just before the rains come, rejoicing at the end of the harsh dusty hot dry season. Coucals are members of the cuckoo family and occupy reed beds, sugar cane plantations, long grasslands and suburban gardens. They are heavy clumsy fliers and usually crash more than land! They feed opportunistically on insects small reptiles, rodents and birds. The beautiful rising babble reminds one of water running over rocks heralds the cooling rains and the advent of spring. Unsurprisingly, Burchell’s Coucal is commonly called the rainbird across the whole continent and hearing one makes any African smile.