Pheasant Cuckoo

The Pheasant Cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus) is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.

Description
They are 14-15" in length, with long, broad tails . Buffy breast with brown streaks . Rather small head, with short pointed crest, and thin neck, giving this bird an unusual profile. . This bird's tail is long and wide (fan-shaped), with the upper tail-coverts greatly elongated, almost as long as the tail itself . It is dark brown above, feathers with edgings, with narrow whitish postocular stripe; mostly whitish below, with a band of dusky spotting across buffyish chest; tail dark brown with tail tipped whitish.

Similar species
The long, broad tail feathers as well as the buffy breast with the brown streaks helps differentiate from the Striped Cuckoo. Its call is like that of a striped cuckoo, but the last note is quivering. It is also smaller and paler brown above, lacks streaking below and has more of a normal tail.

Behaviour
It is is secretive and sulking. They tend to walk slowly and quietly through their wooded habitats, usually solitarily. When alarmed. they run quickly from the source of the disturbance, madly flapping their wings.

Diet
Forages on insects (especially grasshoppers) and lizards.

Calls
Often heard rather than seen. This species spend most of their time on the ground, fly up to the middle or upper levels of trees to vocalise. Their usual call is a melancholy and far-carrying whistle: se-see-werrrr. Another vocalization sounds like sah, seh, si-see, with the ending at a higher pitch. These birds also make clucking calls.

Reproduction
This species of cuckoo is a brood parasite, meaning that the females lay their eggs in the nests of other species, so the "host" birds raise their young. Mainly on species building cup nests, but also on those constructing closed nests.

Distribution/habitat
Almost always sticks to dense undergrowth in evergreen forests, in which it prefers.

It occurs in Mexico as well as Central and South America(na).