Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Photo: Manuel Grosselet/Vireo
Mangrove Cuckoo
Coccyzus minor
| Conservation status | Probably declining in Florida Keys as habitat is lost to development, but may be expanding north slightly along coast. Still widespread in Caribbean and elsewhere in tropics. |
|---|---|
| Family | Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis |
| Habitat | In our area, mostly in mangroves. In Florida, lives in mangrove swamps and in groves of tropical hardwoods on the Keys and the southern mainland. Elsewhere in range, found in mangroves and in various kinds of scrubby woods, including dry forest far from water. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages rather slowly and deliberately among mangroves or other dense growth, peering about, sometimes making short leaps or flutters to take insects from the foliage.
Eggs
2, sometimes 3. Pale blue-green, fading to greenish yellow. Incubation is probably by both parents; incubation period not well known. Young: Development of young and age at first flight not well known. Probably fed by both parents, as in other cuckoos.
Young
Development of young and age at first flight not well known. Probably fed by both parents, as in other cuckoos.
Diet
Mostly insects. Diet not known in detail. As with other cuckoos, seems to eat many caterpillars. Also feeds on grasshoppers, praying mantises, moths, flies, and other insects; also some spiders and small frogs, and probably some berries and small fruits.
Nesting
Breeding behavior is not well known. Male gives low, throaty song in spring, presumably to defend territory and attract a mate. Nest: So far as known, site is in mangrove or other low tree, usually fairly low over the water or ground (probably lower than 10' in most cases), among dense foliage. Nest is a flimsy platform of sticks.
Download Our Bird Guide App
- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Low guttural gaw-gaw-gaw-gaw-gaw, almost like a soft bark or the scolding of a squirrel.How climate change could affect this bird's range
In the broadest and most detailed study of its kind, Audubon scientists have used hundreds of thousands of citizen-science observations and sophisticated climate models to predict how birds in the U.S. and Canada will react to climate change.
Read more: climate.audubon.org
Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”
The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).
The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.
The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.
The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.
You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.
Mangrove Cuckoo In the News More News
Audubon Mural Project
Mangrove Cuckoo by Candice Flewharty
Location: 3675 Broadway, New York, NY 10031
