- Dromococcyx pavoninus
Identification
28cm. A small-headed and thin-necked Cuckoo.
- Rufous crown, face and short crest
- Buff eye-stripe
- Black cheeks
- Dark upperparts with scaly feathers edged white, giving a frosted appearance, wings brown with whitish edges on coverts
- Brown tail with white tips and broad subterminal black band, graduated
- Rufous, unspotted throat and breast
- White belly
- Bill black above and paler below
Sexes similar. Juveniles are greyer, they have a grey-brown head, a white eye-stripe and a blackish back with some buff-edged feathers. Their throat and breast are greyish.
Distribution
Found in tropical South America from Venezuela and Guyana through eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and Bolivia to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Has a patchy and discontinuous distribution, uncommon to rare in its range but probably overlooked due its secretive habits.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Occurs in lowland tropical evergreen forest, in montane forest, scrub thickets, tangled forest with dense secondary woodland, transitional forest and seasonally inundated forest.
From the lowlands up to 1600m, occasionally up to 1900m in Venezuela.
Behaviour
A shy and secretive species.
Diet
Feeds on insects. Forages on the ground and in forest understorey.
Breeding
A brood-parasitic. Parasites tyrant flycatchers and antthrushes. The young of the host disappear after the cuckoo hatches.
Movements
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334221
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Pavonine Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pavonine_Cuckoo
External Links
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