This cuckoo has a very wide range and is quite common so it is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The range of this species extends from Liberia to Ethiopia in the east and Angola and South Africa.

[2] The black cuckoo feeds mainly on hairy caterpillars but also consumes termites and ants, including winged ones caught in flight, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects, as well as birds' eggs and nestlings.

Its main hosts are bushshrikes, particularly the tropical boubou and crimson-breasted shrike.

The cuckoo chick evicts other eggs and nestlings usually within thirty hours of hatching.