Little cuckoo

Little cuckoo
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cuculiformes
Family:	Cuculidae
Genus:	Coccycua
Species:	C. minuta
Binomial name
Coccycua minuta (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms
Piaya minuta Vieillot, 1817

Piaya minuta Vieillot, 1817

The little cuckoo (Coccycua minuta) is a species of bird in the cuckoo family (Cuculidae) from South America and Panama. It was formerly placed in the genus Piaya but a monotypic genus Coccycua was once erected for it. This has been reinstated following the discovery that the closest living relatives of the little cuckoo are some species traditionally placed in Coccyzus or Micrococcyx, rather than the other members of Piaya.

This species is about 27 centimetres (11 in) long and weighs 40 grams (1.4 oz). The adult is mainly chestnut brown, with a greyish lower belly, browner tail and white tips to the tail feathers. The bill is yellow, short, and decurved; the iris of the eyes is red. Immature birds are dark brown with a black bill and no white tail tips. It is smaller and the throat is darker than in the squirrel cuckoo.

The little cuckoo makes harsh chek and kak calls.

This small cuckoo occurs from Panama and Trinidad south through Colombia to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil; in Ecuador, it has been recorded as high up as 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) ASL. The little cuckoo is found in mangrove swamps, and scrubby woodland near water. It is generally believed to be an all-year resident, but its irregular occurrence in some areas has led to speculations that it undertakes seasonal short-distance migrations. Fairly widely distributed and not particularly rare, it is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.

This is a shy species which tends to keep to cover as it forages in low branches for insects and other arthropods. The female lays two white eggs in a deep cup nest in a tree or bamboo. Like most American cuckoos, it incubates the eggs itself.

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