Scaled Ground-Cuckoo
Neomorphus squamiger
Large, rare, enigmatic terrestrial cuckoo, typically very difficult to find. Has a long tail, a strong pale bill, and a black crest. Told from regionally-occurring subspecies of Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo by its pale loral region and throat. Often attends army-ant swarms, but also often follows herds of peccaries, groups of monkeys, or mixed flocks of birds. The song is deep and hollow, recalling a dove. Also produces bill snaps, possibly mimicking peccaries.
Identification
The scaled ground cuckoo is about 43 cm (17 in) long, about half of which is its tail, and weighs about 340 g (12 oz). Adults have a heavy decurved bill that is greenish with a bluish dusky base and a yellowish tip. The sexes have similar plumage. Adults have a brownish forehead and crown and a shaggy, glossy, blue-black, erectile crest. Most of the face is cinnamon buff but with bright cobalt blue bare skin behind the eye. Their hindneck and upper back are bronzy olive brown, the lower back bronzy brown to purplish, and the rump and uppertail coverts deep purplish brown with a bronze gloss. Their tail is black with a purple and green gloss on the upper side. Their wings are olive green with purple-glossed bluish primaries. Their throat is dusky white to pale buff. Their breast is buff or grayish with bold black semicircles that give it a scaly appearance and has an indistinct black band below it. The rest of the underparts are whitish or buffy with chestnut on the flanks, lower belly, and undertail coverts. Juveniles' breasts and flanks are dark brown and the belly dark brown with a paler center.<p>Some authors state that the scaled ground cuckoo can easily be separated from the rufous-vented ground cuckoo by the lack of a dark chest band and some other characteristics. Others maintain that the variation in these features in the Amazonian subspecies of rufous-vented ground cuckoos (N. g. amazonicus) makes the distinction questionable, leading to the lack of agreement on its status.
Taxonomy
The scaled ground cuckoo's taxonomic status has not been settled. The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy treat it as a species. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats it as a subspecies of the rufous-vented ground cuckoo (N. geoffroyi), and the SACC is seeking a proposal to possibly reevaluate their treatment.<p>This article follows the majority treatment as a species. It is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Neomorphus squamiger
- Authority
- Todd, 1925
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Neomorphus
Range and habitat
The scaled ground cuckoo is generally considered to be restricted to the lower drainage of the Rio Tapajós, a southern tributary of the Amazon River, roughly between Parintins on the west and the Rio Xingu on the east. There are also a few records in the upper reaches of the Tapajós drainage. It inhabits mature undisturbed evergreen forest.
Behavior
The scaled ground cuckoo is almost exclusively terrestrial, though it flys to low perches to rest or preen. It mostly walks or runs on the forest floor.<p>The scaled ground cuckoo's diet is not known but is assumed to be mostly insects like that of other Neomorphus cuckoos. Their diet also includes significant amounts of other arthropods; small vertebrates like lizards, amphibians, and small birds; and sometimes fallen fruits. The scaled ground cuckoo is known to often follow army ant swarms and has been observed following peccaries, presumably to catch prey fleeing from them. <p>Almost nothing is known about the scaled ground cuckoo's breeding phenology and its nest has not been described. Both are assumed to be similar to those of other Neomorphus cuckoos.<p>What is thought to be the scaled ground cuckoo's song is "a soft, low dove-like OOOOOOOoo about 1-2 seconds in length given repeatedly with approximately 1-2 seconds between songs." It makes a dry clacking sound by clapping its bill.
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mangrove Vireo
Vireo pallens
Despite the name, not found in mangroves in most of its range. Common in scrubby woodland, brushy fields, and thickets of Yucatan Peninsula. Also very local in mangroves along the Pacific coast. Best field marks are the white wingbars and the yellow patch between the eyes and bill; most birds are pale yellowish below, a few are paler and grayer overall. Birds in mangroves of Central America are often rather colorless, with very reduced yellow tones. Twanging song is a common sound in much of Yucatan Peninsula.
Rufous Bristlebird
Dasyornis broadbenti
A skulking red-brown bird with a long tail that has a rough uneven tip. Upperparts rich reddish brown, especially wings and crown, underparts gray-brown with speckling. Obvious pale eyering, lores, and moustachial marks. Feeds on the ground in dense coastal shrubland and heathland, runs rapidly with head down. Calls include a gentle series of repeated thin clear "chit" notes followed by a slurred whistled phrase.
Burchell's Starling
Lamprotornis australis
A large, long-tailed, iridescent blue-green to purple glossy starling with barred wings, and a round-tipped tail. Pairs, groups, and small flocks are resident in dry savanna, especially near thorn trees, where they have become common in camps and often associate with humans. The species feeds on the ground, walking with long strides and sitting low in trees, searching for insects, small vertebrates, and plant matter to eat. The similar Meves’s Starling differs from Burchell’s Starling by being bluer and smaller, with a more strongly graduated tail that is proportionately longer.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.