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Mangrove Cuckoo

Coccyzus minorOrder: CUCULIFORMESFamily: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)

Mangrove Cuckoo Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Mangrove Cuckoo: Medium-sized cuckoo with gray-brown upperparts, black ear patch, yellow eye-ring, white throat, and buff-washed white underparts. Tail is long and dark with six large white spots underneath, each with a dark spot. Decurved bill is dark above and yellow below with a dark tip. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Mangrove Cuckoo: Breeds in southern Florida. A few remain during winter, but most leave for the tropics. Frequents mangrove swamps.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"Gah-gah-gah", "qua-qua-qua"

Interesting Facts

 The Mangrove Cuckoo is found throughout the Caribbean and both coasts of Mexico and South America.

 It is a non-migratory bird in most of its range, but many Florida birds fly south for the winter. Sightings of birds remaining in Florida for the winter have been increasing steadily.

 Completely silent except during breeding season, birds can be difficult to detect.

 A group of cuckoos are collectively known as a "cooch" and an "asylum" of cuckoos.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Mangrove Cuckoo
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Roadrunners and Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Species Coccyzus minor
Length11 - 13 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Mangrove Cuckoo

Mangrove Cuckoo: Medium-sized cuckoo with gray-brown upperparts, black ear patch, yellow eye-ring, white throat, and buff-washed white underparts. Long, dark tail has six large white spots underneath, each with a dark spot. Decurved bill is dark above and yellow below with a dark tip.

● Song: "Gah-gah-gah", "qua-qua-qua"

● Foraging & Feeding: Mangrove Cuckoo: Eats caterpillars, grasshoppers, moths, flies, and other insects; forages in trees and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: Mangrove Cuckoo: Two to three light blue eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs and leaves, and built from 8 to 10 feet above the ground in a mangrove tree or shrub. Incubation ranges from 9 to 11 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Mangrove Cuckoo: Yellow-billed and Black-billed cuckoos have white underparts and lack black masks.

Flight Pattern

Rapid direct flight with quick wing beats.
Mangrove Cuckoo Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Mangrove Cuckoo: Breeds in southern Florida. A few remain during winter, but most leave for the tropics. Frequents mangrove swamps.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester, Sometimes forms loose colonies
PopulationRare to uncommon
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight3.6 Ounces