Little Cuckoo (Piaya minuta)
Little Cuckoo, Caseara, Tocantins, Brazil, January 2002 - click for larger image Caseara, Tocantins, Brazil
January 2002

The Little Cuckoo is found in the Amazonian Basin as well as the rest of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. It inhabits forest edges, mangroves and river-edge forest and it is usually seen in dense, low vegetation near water.
It looks overall like a smaller version of the Squirrel Cuckoo and is rufous-chestnut above and slightly paler below. Its bill is greenish yellow and it has a reddish iris and a red eye-ring. The underside of the tail is black with large white spots which are also visible from above.

It eats a wide variety of insects from caterpillars and wasps to flies and spiders.

There are illustrations in HBW, Volume 4, Page 600; Hilty & Brown, Plate 12 and Ridgely & Greenfield, Plate 33.
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