The lesser ground cuckoo (''Morococcyx erythropygus'') is a species of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

in the tribe Neomorphini of subfamily

Crotophaginae The Crotophaginae are a small subfamily, within the cuckoo family Cuculidae, of four gregarious bird species occurring in the Americas. They were previously classified as a family Crotophagidae. The subfamily is notable for the development of co ...

. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The lesser ground cuckoo is the only member of its genus. It has two subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''M. e. erythropygus'' and ''M. e. mexicanus''.

Description

The lesser ground cuckoo is long. Males weigh about and females about . Females are somewhat paler than males but otherwise do not differ. They have a slightly decurved bill with a blackish brown

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

and an orange

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

. Their face is intricately patterned, with a bright yellow ring around the eye with bare blue skin behind it and thin black lines surrounding the area, a short indistinct whitish stripe above the eye, and cinnamon ocracous cheeks. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a grayish brown crown, an olive brown nape and back, a sooty blackish lower back and rump, and olive brown uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

. Their tail is mostly olive brown with a purplish bronze gloss and buff to whitish tips on top and light grayish brown on the underside with dull blackish bands near the end of the outer feathers. Their underparts from chin to vent are cinnamon ochraceous. Immatures are similar to adults but duller and do not have the pale tips and blackish bands on the tail.Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, G. M. Kirwan, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Lesser Ground-Cuckoo (''Morococcyx erythropygus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.legcuc1.01 retrieved September 22, 2022 Adults of subspecies ''M. e. mexicanus'' are larger and paler than the nominate, with somewhat grayer upperparts and underparts tending to ochraceous buff or pale buff, but a darker underside to the tail.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of lesser ground cuckoo is found from southern Mexico south through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua into Costa Rica. ''M. e. mexicanus'' is found on the Pacific slope of western Mexico between Sinaloa and the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...

. The species inhabits semiarid to arid landscapes including the interior and edges of woodlands,

thorn forest A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging . Regions Africa Is present in the southwest of Africa with smaller areas in other places of Africa. ...

, secondary forest, and savanna. Those in southwestern Mexico are almost exclusively found in thorn forest.

Behavior

Movement

The lesser ground cuckoo is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The lesser ground cuckoo feeds on insects captured while walking on the ground or picked from vegetation with short leaps. Details of its diet are lacking.

Breeding

The lesser ground cuckoo's breeding seasons vary geographically but are not fully known. In Costa Rica it breeds between February and May and its season in Mexico apparently includes May and June. It makes a shallow bowl nest of sticks or leaves on the ground. Both adults incubate the clutch of two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

The lesser ground cuckoo's song has been described as "a series of 10 or more loud rolling or trilling notes...usually introduced by 2-3 clear, ascending whistles" and as "loud, rich, rolled whistles, suggesting a referee's whistle...''prree,...prree,....prree, prree-prree-prreeprree ... prree, prree, prree,....prree,.........prree''". It also made "a clear whistle, ''teeeee''" and "a rough, growling ''ghaaaoow''".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the lesser ground cuckoo as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and an estimated population between 50,000 and 500,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1262730, from2=Q10794759 lesser ground cuckoo Birds of Central America Birds of Mexico Birds of El Salvador Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua lesser ground cuckoo Taxonomy articles created by Polbot