Greater roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus

Common name:

greater roadrunner (en); papa-léguas (pt); grand géocoucou (fr); correcaminos (es); wegekuckuck (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Cuculiformes

Family Cuculidae

Range:

The greater roadrunner is found in the south-east of the United States, from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to California, and in northern Mexico.

Size:

These bird are 52-56 cm long and have a wingspan of 49 cm. They weigh 220-540 g.

Habitat:

They are found in open arid and semiarid areas with scattered bushes or thickets, along the edges of chaparral and in sparsely vegetated grasslands.

Diet:

Great roadrunners are omnivorous, taking a variety of insects, spiders, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, lizards, birds, eggs, rodents and even carrion. Fruit and seeds are consumed with seasonal availability.

Breeding:

They breed in May-September. Pairs mate for life, each year the female build the nest while the male provides nesting material. The nest is a compact cup or shallow platform built with stiff twigs and lined with finer material including leaves, grass, feathers, plant seed or pods, snake skins, roots, and dry flakes of livestock manure. The female lays 2-6 white or yellowish eggs which are incubated for 19-20 days by both sexes. Only males incubate at night. The chicks fledge 17-21 days after hatching, but continue to be fed by both parents for another 4-6 weeks. Each pair may raise 1-2 broods per year.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

The greater roadrunner has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 1.100.000 individuals. The overall population trend is stable, but the populations in California are known to be decreasing. Habitat loss and urban sprawl are the major threats to greater roadrunners and the construction of roads causes fragmentation of habitat as well as mortality from cars. Greater roadrunners are also illegally shot in response to the myth that they prey on quail, but feeding studies showed they rarely consume quail.

Banded bay cuckoo

Cacomantis sonneratii

Photo by Koshy Koshy (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:

banded bay cuckoo (en); cuco-listado (pt); coucou de Sonnerat (fr); cuco bayo (es); Sonneratkuckuck (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Cuculiformes

Family Cuculidae

Range:

This Asian species is found in India and Sri Lanka, north to Nepal, and east to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos Cambodja, Thailand and Vietnam. They are also found in Malaysia and in Indonesia in Borneo, Sumatra and Java.

Size:

This small cuckoo is 22 cm long and has a wingspan of 25-27 cm. Males and females are similar in size, weighing 35 g.

Habitat:

They are found in well wooded habitats, mostly tropical and sub-tropical moist lowland forests, bur also in dense scrubland.

Diet:

Their diet is essentially insectivorous, hunting a variety of insects found in the foliage or in flight.

Breeding:

The breeding season varies widely between different parts of their range, so much that they can breed all year round. They are brood parasites, laying the eggs on the nests of other species, namely bulbuls and small babblers. The banded bay cuckoo chick hatches earlier than the chicks of the host and evicts the other eggs, or chicks from the nest as soon as possible. The hosts will then feed the chick until fledging.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

The species is described as common throughout their very large breeding range. Since there is no evidence for any declines or substantial threats, the species is not considered threatened at present.

Pallid cuckoo

Cuculus pallidus

Photo by Larry Dunis (Bushpea)

Common name:

pallid cuckoo (en); cuco-pálido (pt); coucou pâle (fr); cuco pálido (es); blaßkuckuck (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Cuculiformes

Family Cuculidae

Range:

They are found throughout Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, and migrate north to winter in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Christmas Island.

Size:

The pallid cuckoo is 28-33 cm and weighs an average 89 g.

Habitat:

The pallid cuckoo inhabits subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. They mostly use open forests, as well as cleared and cultivated open country near forests.

Diet:

They mostly eat insects and caterpillars taken from foliage.

Breeding:

The pallid cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of honeyeaters, woodswallows, whistlers and flycatchers. Common host species include the Willie wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys and the hooded robin Melanodryas cuculatta. The female cuckoo removes one of the host's eggs and replaces it with one of her own. The cuckoo egg usually closely resembles the host egg but hatches before the others, after which the young cuckoo instinctively forces the other eggs (or chicks) out of the nest. The young cuckoo is fed by its “foster” parents until fledging, often becoming larger than them.

Conservation:

IUCN status – LC (Least concern)

Although there is no reliable population estimate, the species has a very large breeding range and is suspected to be increasing as ongoing habitat degradation may be creating new areas of suitable habitat. This supports the assertion that the pallid cuckoo is not threatened at present.