White-bellied cuckooshrike is a medium-sized bird with light gray upperside and brilliant white underside. The face is marked by a short black mask extending from the beak to the eyes (lores), and a split white eye-ring. This species has a wide distribution from eastern Indonesia east to the Solomon Islands and south to Australia. It is divided into a total of 13 subspecies, probably because it occurs on many small islands. The bird seems to be very adaptable. It thrives in a wide variety of habitats and vegetation types including savannas, woodlands, eucalyptus forests, riparian forests, rainforests, riparian forests, scrublands, mangroves, open grasslands, coconut plantations, farmlands and suburban gardens. They feed mainly on larger insects such as dragonflies, cockroaches, praying mantises, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, wasps and caterpillars. They sometimes supplement with spiders, fruit and seeds. They usually pick the prey directly from leaves (so-called 'gleaning'), alone, in pairs or in small groups.