| Pheasant Cuckoo | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Subfamily: | Neomorphinae |
| Genus: | Dromococcyx |
| Species: | D. phasianellus |
| Binomial name | |
| Dromococcyx phasianellus (Spix, 1824) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Macropus phasianellus [1] | |
The Pheasant Cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus) is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.
Other names[]
Description[]
They are 14-15" in length, with long, broad tails [2]. Buffy breast with brown streaks [3]. Rather small head, with short pointed crest, and thin neck, giving this bird an unusual profile. [4]. This bird's tail is long and wide (fan-shaped), with the upper tail-coverts greatly elongated, almost as long as the tail itself [4]. It is dark brown above, feathers with edgings, with narrow whitish postocular stripe; mostly whitish below, with a band of dusky spotting across buffyish chest; tail dark brown with tail tipped whitish [4].
Similar species[]
The long, broad tail feathers as well as the buffy breast with the brown streaks helps differentiate from the Striped Cuckoo [3]. Its call is like that of a striped cuckoo, but the last note is quivering [3]. It is also smaller and paler brown above, lacks streaking below and has more of a normal tail [4].
Behaviour[]
It is is secretive and sulking [2]. They tend to walk slowly and quietly through their wooded habitats, usually solitarily [2]. When alarmed. they run quickly from the source of the disturbance, madly flapping their wings [2].
Diet[]
Forages on insects (especially grasshoppers) and lizards [2].
Calls[]
Often heard rather than seen. This species spend most of their time on the ground, fly up to the middle or upper levels of trees to vocalise [2]. Their usual call is a melancholy and far-carrying whistle: se-see-werrrr. Another vocalization sounds like sah, seh, si-see, with the ending at a higher pitch [2]. These birds also make clucking calls [2].
Reproduction[]
This species of cuckoo is a brood parasite, meaning that the females lay their eggs in the nests of other species, so the "host" birds raise their young [2]. Mainly on species building cup nests, but also on those constructing closed nests [4].
Distribution/habitat[]
Almost always sticks to dense undergrowth in evergreen forests, in which it prefers [2].
It occurs in Mexico as well as Central and South America(na) [2].
References[]
- ^ "Pheasant Cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus)". The Internet Bird Collection. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Beletsky, Les; David Nurney, Mike Langman (illu.); Cornell Lab of Ornithology (bird sounds) (2007). Bird Songs from Around the World. Bellevue, WA: becker&meyer!. p. 10. ISBN 143797046X. Cite uses deprecated parameter
|coauthors=(help); - ^ a b c Garrigues, Richard and Dean, Robert (2007). Birds of Costa Rica. Zona Tropical Publication. ISBN 9780801445873.
- ^ a b c d e Ridgely, Robert S. and Gwynne, John A., Jr. (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Panama, with Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691025126.
External links[]
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