Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Cercococcyx mechowi
A dark brownish-gray cuckoo with an unusually long tail and barred underparts. Found in the understory and at middle levels of humid forest at low and middle elevations. Shy and retiring, most easily found by voice. Very similar to Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo and best separated by voice, but also identified by darker upperparts, broader barring on the underparts, and richer rufous on the undertail. There are two main vocalizations: a quick series of three rising whistles, and a long, rapid series of whistles that slows and falls slightly toward the end. In the far western part of the range, the three whistles are slow and each one is progressively higher in pitch; elsewhere, the whistles are fast and identical.
Identification
The dusky long-tailed cuckoo is about 33 cm (13 in) long and weighs 50–61 g (1.8–2.2 oz). The head, nape and upperparts are dark brown, washed sooty-grey and with a purple-blue iridescence. The wings are dark brown, with buff and white spots. The underparts are white, with blackish-brown bars, and the vent is buff. The tail is long and graduated. The eyes are dark brown, the beak is greenish-black and the feet are yellow. The male and female are alike. The juvenile bird has a blackish throat and rufous bars on its upperparts. The nestling's skin is black, and it has a yellow rump and pale feet.
Taxonomy
The species was described by Jean Cabanis in 1882. It is monotypic. The specific epithet mechowi honours Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, a Prussian explorer. The name occidentalis for a population with different songs is a nomen nudum.
- Scientific name
- Cercococcyx mechowi
- Authority
- Cabanis, 1882
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cercococcyx
Range and habitat
This cuckoo has a discontinuous distribution and is found in Angola, most of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tanzania, and Uganda. Populations west of the Bakossi Mountains, in northwestern Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo, are now considered a distinct species, the whistling long-tailed cuckoo (C. lemaireae) due to their differing calls. Its habitat is forests, preferring ones with dense undergrowth and lianas. It also occurs in tall secondary forests and forests along rivers.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The dusky long-tailed cuckoo is often found in the undergrowth or mid-canopy. It eats caterpillars, ants, beetles, spiders, snails and seeds and joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Pairs often call from treetops. Its calls include hu hee wheeu and a series of notes that accelerates and then slows and descends. This cuckoo is a brood parasite. The blue-headed crested flycatcher, brown illadopsis and possibly the forest robin have been observed as hosts. Its breeding may be associated with the wet season.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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