Lesser Ground-Cuckoo

How to find it

Go at the recommended early hour, because birds in this dry region concentrate their activity in a short window of the day, to avoid the heat once the sun warms up. Listen first, since it calls a lot but likes to stay low in thickets. Scan the ground under scrubby bushes, where a naturalist in northern Guanacaste once found one. Check grass and open ground too, as it may sit in the open for long periods. Near the Tárcoles river mouth, birders on the rough Guacimo Road had good views of one perched in grass.

How to recognise it

Look for these marks:

Mostly brown above, with a long, stepped tail.

Buffy orange below.

A whitish eyebrow stripe.

A patch of bare blue skin behind the eye.

A slightly downcurved bill.

It measures 25 to 28 cm in length. Females are a little paler than males but otherwise look the same, so you cannot count on telling the sexes apart in the field.

Behaviour and diet

It feeds mainly on open ground or in the understory. It catches insects while walking, or by making short leaps to pick them off plants. It can be furtive and hard to see, yet it is not shy and may sit in the open for long periods. It is seen in pairs or small flocks. The nest is a shallow bowl of sticks and leaf stalks on the ground, with two eggs.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is resident on the northern Pacific slope, south to the Río Tárcoles. It also lives in the west of the Central Valley, reaching Villa Colón and Grecia in the east of that range. It ranges from sea level up to roughly 1200 m. In the Greater Metropolitan Area it is found on the outer edges, likely because it prefers forest and forest borders. Across its whole range it lives in arid lowland scrub and tropical deciduous forest, below 1800 m.

When to see it

In Costa Rica it breeds between February and May.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican names include Cuclillo Sabanero, Horero, Horera and the older nickname Guía León. Another Spanish name is Cuclillo Bobo, which means roughly 'silly cuckoo'. The names cuclillo sabanero and cuclillo terrestre mean roughly little savanna cuckoo and little ground cuckoo.

Status and conservation

The AOCR lists it as a resident (R), and the IUCN rates the species Least Concern; it does not migrate and stays in its range all year.

Photography tips

Its habit of sitting in the open for long periods gives a chance for a photograph. A pair was photographed near the storage building at Sector Pailas, and one was seen perched in grass near the Tárcoles river mouth. Go early and watch low thickets and open ground.