- Coccyzus euleri
Identification
28cm (11 in).
- Uniform earth-brown upperparts
- Light pearly-grey below, whitish centre of belly
- Long, blackish tail with white tips
- Grey to black eyering
- Brown to black eye
- Bill black above, mostly orange or yellow below
Sexes similar, juveniles have rufous wings.
Similar species
Yellow-billed Cuckoo has inner webs of primaries brown (not white like Pearly-breasted Cuckoo) and shows some rufous on wings.
Distribution
Found from northeast Colombia and the Guianas through Amazonia and eastern Brazil south to northern Argentina. Probably only a winter visitor to Colombia and the Guianas.
Rare to uncommon in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecies with Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Habitat
Tropical evergreen forest, gallery forest and secondary forest. Also in scrub and sandy woodland. Occurs from sea-level up to 900m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects, mainly caterpillars.
Breeding
Little known. Breeding recorded in October. No nest described.
Movements
An austral migrant. Limits of breeding and non-breeding grounds not well known.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334221
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Pearly-breasted Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pearly-breasted_Cuckoo
