Little Cuckoo
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| Piaya minuta Vieillot, 1817 |
The Little Cuckoo, Piaya minuta, is a near-passerine bird. This small cuckoo is a resident breeding bird from Panama, Colombia and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil.
The Little Cuckoo is found in mangrove swamps, and scrubby woodland near water. The female lays two white eggs in a deep cup nest in a tree or bamboo.
This species is about 27 cm long and weighs 40 g. The adult is mainly chestnut, with a greyish lower belly, browner tail and white tips to the tail feathers. The bill is yellow and the iris is red. Immature birds are dark brown with a black bill and no white tail tips.
The Little Cuckoo makes harsh. chek and kak call as it forages in low branches for insects. This is a shy species which tends to keep to cover.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Piaya minuta. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
- Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
