Pheasant cuckoo

Pheasant cuckoo
Pheasant cuckoo
Systematics
Class : Birds (aves) Order : Cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes) Family : Cuckoos (Cuculidae) Subfamily : Ground Cuckoo (Neomorphinae) Genre : Dromococcyx Type : Pheasant cuckoo
Scientific name
Dromococcyx phasianellus
( Spix , 1824)

The pheasant cuckoo ( Dromococcyx phasianellus ) is a species of cuckoo in Central and South America .

features

The pheasant cuckoo grows to around 33 - 41 cm. There is no such thing as gender dimorphism . The plumage is dark brown on top, with the cover plumage reaching to the end of the strikingly wide tail feathers. The chest is white with black flecks. The head is colored brown with a white stripe behind the eyes, the hood is chestnut brown.

distribution

The pheasant cuckoo is an inhabitant of the Neotropics . The distribution area extends from southern Mexico to Panama . It also occurs in Venezuela , Colombia , Brazil and in eastern areas of Peru , Bolivia and Paraguay . Due to the shy way of life in dense forests and the resulting difficult observation of the bird, the range is probably larger. Due to the large distribution area and the frequency of the species, the IUCN does not assume any risk. The population size is estimated at 50,000 to 499,999 individuals.

Way of life

Pheasant cuckoos live in evergreen forests, gallery forests and dry forests with dense undergrowth. Open land areas are avoided. The cuckoos usually move on the ground and in the bushes; in case of danger they usually flee running instead of flying. This is also referred to by the generic name Dromococcyx , which is made up of the Greek words for "run" (dromos) and "cuckoo" (kokyx). The crown area becomes rare, e.g. B. visited to sing.

The diet of the pheasant cuckoo includes large grasshoppers , cockroaches , beetles , spiders , but also small lizards , snakes and chicks . The food is preferably taken on the ground, whereby the pheasant cuckoo with the fan-shaped tail feathers sweeps the top layer of leaves aside, while it produces rattling noises by trembling wings and clattering beak. This is believed to scare off potential prey that can then be collected from the ground.

During courtship, the pheasant cuckoo sets up the tail feathers in a fan shape, the hood and alula , as well as the breast plumage are also set up. Like the other Dromococcyx species, the peacock cuckoo ( Dromococcyx pavoninus ), the pheasant cuckoo is a breeding parasite . Known host birds are the eye ring-Breitschnabel bully ( Rhynchocyclus brevirostris ), the Olivscheitel-Breitschnabel bully ( Tolmomyias sulphurescens ) of the Elster water bully ( Fluvicola pica ), the Tie-Ameisenwürger ( Thamnophilus doliatus ) and Myozetetisarten .

literature

• Johannes Erritzøe , Clive F. Mann, Frederik Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World (Helm Identification Guides) . Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd, London 2012, ISBN 978-071-366-034-0 .
• Robert B. Payne: The Cuckoos . Oxford University Press 2005. (Bird Families of the World No. 15), ISBN 0198502133 .

Web links

Commons : Pheasant Cuckoo ( Dromococcyx phasianellus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Dromococcyx phasianellus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed May 23, 2013.
• BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Pheasant Cuckoo ( Dromococcyx phasianellus ) . Retrieved May 25, 2013.
• Videos, photos, and sound recordings of Pheasant Cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus) in the Internet Bird Collection
• Pheasant Cuckoo ( Dromococcyx phasianellus ) at Avibase; Retrieved May 25, 2013.
• Dromococcyx phasianellus in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved May 25, 2013.
• xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Pheasant Cuckoo ( Dromococcyx phasianellus )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erritzoe et al. P. 118
2. ↑ ^{a b} Erritzoe et al. P. 119
3. ↑ dromococcyx phasianellus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed May 23, 2013.
4. ^ Payne, p. 189