The rufous-winged ground cuckoo (''Neomorphus rufipennis'') is a species of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separat ...

in the tribe Neomorphini of subfamily

Crotophaginae The Crotophaginae are a small subfamily, within the cuckoo family Cuculidae, of four gregarious bird species occurring in the Americas. They were previously classified as a family Crotophagidae. The subfamily is notable for the development of ...

. It is found in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Guyana,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

, and possibly Colombia.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

. However, at times the population in the western part of its range was treated as a separate species and also as a subspecies of the rufous-winged.Hughes, J. M. (2020). Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo (''Neomorphus rufipennis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rwgcuc1.01 retrieved September 24, 2022

Description

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo is long, about half of which is its tail. Males weigh about and females about . Adults have a heavy decurved bill that is black with a greenish to greenish white tip on the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The ...

. The sexes are alike. They have a deep purplish blue head, crest, neck, and upper back and olive lower back and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

. Their inner tail feathers are metallic purple and the outer ones black with a green gloss. Their wings'

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

are bluish black and the secondaries dark brownish red. They have bare red to reddish-violet skin around and behind the eye. Their throat is ashy to dark gray with black borders on the lower feathers that give a scaly appearance. Their upper breast is black, the lower breast and belly dull ashy brown to slate gray, and the undertail coverts slate gray. Juveniles have mostly brownish slate upperparts with a black lower back and rump and slate underparts.

Distribution and habitat

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo is found primarily in the eastern Venezuelan states of Bolívar and

Amazonas Amazonas may refer to: Places * Amazon River, known as ''Amazonas'' in Spanish and Portuguese *Amazonas (Brazilian state), Brazil * Amazonas Department, Colombia * Department of Amazonas, Peru * Amazonas (Venezuelan state), Venezuela Other uses * ...

, western Guyana, and far northwestern Brazil. A sight record in Colombia leads the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

to treat it as hypothetical in that country. That committee has not evaluated another sight record from

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. The species inhabits mature undisturbed evergreen forest and upland ''

terra firme Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

'' forest. In elevation it ranges the foothill zone between .

Behavior

Movement

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Locomotion

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo is almost exclusively terrestrial, though it may fly low to the ground or into a tree to escape a predator or hop to low branches. It mostly walks or runs on the forest floor and makes leaps to catch prey.

Feeding

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo's diet is mostly insects. It also includes significant amounts of other

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s; small vertebrates like lizards, amphibians, and small birds; and sometimes fruits. It often follows

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limi ...

swarms and peccaries to catch prey fleeing from them, and monkey troops to feed on fallen fruits.

Breeding

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

is almost unknown and its nest has not been described. Its nesting season apparently could span from March to September.

Vocalization

The rufous-winged ground cuckoo's territorial call is "a loud forceful ''whOOu''" that resembles a dove's call but is clearer and louder and may be repeated for several minutes. Another call is "a low guttural ''gr’r’r''." They also make a dry clacking sound by clapping their bill that may mimic

peccaries A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of No ...

. Peccaries are able to defend their herd from predators, so mimicking peccaries could trick predators into believing that peccaries are near. Doing so may also benefit both species by warning the other of nearby predators.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the rufous-winged ground cuckoo as being of Least Concern. It has a large range but its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. No immeditate threats have been identified. However, it "is described as a species of high sensitivity with a reliance on primary tropical forest" so deforestation or fragmentation could negatively impact it.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1267475

rufous-winged ground cuckoo The rufous-winged ground cuckoo (''Neomorphus rufipennis'') is a species of cuckoo in the tribe Neomorphini of subfamily Crotophaginae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, and possibly Colombia.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbo ...

Birds of the Guianas Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot