Gray-capped Cuckoo
Coccyzus lansbergi
Brightly-colored cuckoo found mainly west of the Andes. Combination of rufous-tawny body and gray separates it from other cuckoos in range. Nests in deciduous forest, dense scrub, and savanna at lower elevations. Outside of the breeding season, it disperses widely and can be seen far from its breeding areas, including at high elevations on rare occasions. Furtive and rarely comes out into the open for long. Song is short series of soft, guttural notes; also gives a harsh churr.
Identification
The grey-capped cuckoo is 25 to 28 cm (9.8 to 11 in) long, about half of which is the tail. Males weigh 46 to 56 g (1.6 to 2.0 oz). The species' bill is stout, somewhat decurved, and black with sometimes a gray or yellow spot at the base of the mandible. Males and females have the same plumage. Adults have a slate-gray cap to below the eye. Their upperparts and wings are rufous brown. The upper surface of their tail is black; the underside of the central pair of feathers is black and the rest black with white tips. Their eye is surrounded by a narrow ring of bare skin that is yellow, white, or yellowish gray. Their underparts are dark rufous buff. Juveniles are similar to adults but have a brown crown and less white on the tail.
Taxonomy
The grey-capped cuckoo is more closely related to the Caribbean species of genus Coccyzus than it is to the others found in South America. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Coccyzus lansbergi
- Authority
- Bonaparte, 1850
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Coccyzus
Range and habitat
The grey-capped cuckoo has two separate populations. One is in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela and the other in western Ecuador and extreme northern Peru. The species has been documented as a vagrant on Bonaire (an island off the Venezuelan coast) and on the Galapagos Islands. Two reports from Panama have apparently not been accepted by the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society.<p>The grey-capped cuckoo inhabits a variety of landscapes including tropical moist to dry semi-deciduous forest, arid forest, gallery forest, and shrubby savanna. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to 800 m (2,600 ft) in Peru, to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Ecuador, to 600 m (2,000 ft) in Colombia, and to 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in Venezuela. There are a few records from higher elevations.
- Breeding range
- SA : Colombia and Venezuela
- Non-breeding range
- w SA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The grey-capped cuckoo is partially or wholly migratory, but the timing and locations involved are poorly known. Migration might be within each separate area rather than between them.<p>The grey-capped cuckoo feeds on insects; caterpillars and some wasps appear to form the bulk of its diet.<p>The grey-capped cuckoo's breeding season in Ecuador may be as long as from January to June, but details there and in the rest of its range are lacking. Its nest is a platform of twigs lined with lichens placed on a horizontal branch between about 0.4 and 5 metres (1 and 20 ft) above the ground and concealed by foliage. The clutch size is two to five eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs over nine to 12 days and fledging occurs eight to 13 days after hatch. Incubation begins with the first egg laid so hatching is asynchronous and the young differ in size.<p>The grey-capped cuckoo's song is a "[f]ast series of 6–8 hollow and falling 'cu' notes, often with a slight pause before the last note, e.g., 'cucucucucucucu-cu'." It may be repeated several times during each song bout.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-necked Tanager
Tangara cyanocephala
Handsome small tanager that inhabits the canopy of humid forests, forest edges, and woodlands; often accompanies mixed-species flocks and visits feeding stations. Mostly green with a blue crown and throat and red cheeks and nape. Males have a black back and females are duller with a mottled black back.
White-winged Brushfinch
Atlapetes leucopterus
A variable, gray and white finch-like bird of the Andes. Face is solid black in the northern part of its range but is marked with white blotches in southwestern Ecuador and northern Peru. Crown is chestnut except for the very localized “Paynter’s” group, which has a pale crown and is restricted to far southeastern Ecuador and adjacent areas of Peru. Conspicuous white wing patches help distinguish it from Bay-crowned Brushfinch. Inhabits dense vegetation, such as montane scrub and roadside tangles.
Limestone Leaf Warbler
Phylloscopus calciatilis
Small, bright yellowish leaf warbler with a black-striped head. Entirely yellow underparts and tail distinguish this species from Yellow-vented Warbler and White-tailed Leaf Warbler. Sulphur-breasted Warbler is extremely similar, but Limestone averages incrementally longer-billed and paler yellow on the underparts. Specialist of lowland and mid-altitude karst hill forest. Like other leaf warblers, forages actively in foliage, often in flocks. Song is a subtly descending series of high tinkling notes; Sulphur-breasted’s song is snappier-sounding, with a distinctly ascending quality. Call is a two-note exclamation with a quiet first half: “bi-DEW!”
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