The dwarf cuckoo is a tropical American bird species of the cuckoo family (Cuculidae).
Region
Amazon Basin and the Guianas
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland tropical South America, especially across northern Brazil and the Guianas, and locally in adjacent Venezuela and Colombia. It favors forest edges, secondary growth, riparian thickets, and scrubby clearings near woodland. The species often uses vine tangles and dense understory for cover while foraging. It adapts to lightly disturbed habitats and can be found along roadsides and in overgrown plantations near forest.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The dwarf cuckoo is one of the smallest New World cuckoos, keeping to dense thickets and forest edges where it often goes unnoticed. It forages quietly for caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects, frequently gleaning from foliage and probing among vines. Unlike some Old World cuckoos, New World species like this one are generally not obligate brood parasites and may build their own nests. Its soft, whistled calls can carry surprisingly far in still tropical air.
Temperament
solitary and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides, usually low through cover
Social Behavior
Typically seen alone or in pairs, keeping to dense shrubs and vine tangles. Pairs may maintain small territories during the breeding season. Nests are placed low to mid-level in dense vegetation, with both adults involved in care. Outside breeding, it may loosely associate with mixed-species flocks to exploit flushed insects.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives a soft, repetitive series of high, whistled notes, often rising slightly in pitch. Calls are ventriloquial and can be hard to localize within thick cover.
Plumage
Compact cuckoo with mostly rufous-brown upperparts and paler buffy underparts; long graduated tail with pale or whitish tips. The wings are warm brown, contrasting with the slightly paler throat and belly. Feathers are smooth and sleek, giving a neat, refined look in good light.
Diet
Primarily consumes caterpillars, orthopterans, beetles, and other soft-bodied insects. It occasionally takes small spiders and other arthropods. Foraging is mostly by gleaning from leaves, twigs, and vine tangles, with short sallies to snatch prey. It may exploit insect outbreaks and uses stealth rather than long pursuits.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in dense edge habitats, secondary forest, gallery woodland, and scrub bordering clearings and rivers. Often forages from 1–6 m above ground within the understory and midstory where cover is thick.
