Mangrove Cuckoo

Overview

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.

Range and Habitat

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

INTERESTING FACTS

The Mangrove Cuckoo is found throughout the Caribbean and both coasts of Mexico and South America.
Completely silent except during breeding season, birds can be difficult to detect.
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.
A group of cuckoos are collectively known as a "cooch" and an "asylum" of cuckoos.

The Mangrove Cuckoo has a large range, estimated globally at 900,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers forest ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 50,000 to 500,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Mangrove Cuckoo is Least Concern.