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Song & Call Comparison
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Song & Call Comparison
Blue-headed Coucal
Canto
Deep, hollow resonant call; powerful low-frequency notes carrying impressively far through dense forest.
Lesser Ground-cuckoo
Canto
Soft, ventriloquial whistled phrase; clear pure notes given quietly and deceptively from dense tropical thicket.
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Geographic Range & Migration
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Conservation Status Comparison
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Estado de conservación
Least Concern
Blue-headed Coucal
Least Concern
Lesser Ground-cuckoo
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Identification Tips — How to Tell Them Apart
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How to Tell Them Apart
Blue-headed Coucal
Plumaje
Unirufous Coucal: entirely rich rufous-brown above and below; dark graduated tail; red eye; uniformly rufous distinctive plumage
Lesser Ground-cuckoo
Plumaje
Greater Roadrunner: boldly streaked brown above; white-cream below with dark streaks; long tail; shaggy crest; bare facial skin; fast runner
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About Each Bird (Descriptions)
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Cucal de cogote azul (Centropus monachus), 35–40 cm. Nuca y corona azul metálico brillante; dorso castaño, alas rojizas, partes inferiores blancas con flancos rayados. Habita en bosques ribereños y matorrales del África subsahariana. Se alimenta de insectos y pequeños vertebrados.
Lesser Ground-cuckoo (Morococcyx erythropygus) — 28 cm. Brown above; chestnut rump; whitish underparts; bare blue orbital skin. Inhabits dry and semi-arid scrub from Mexico to Costa Rica. Non-parasitic; builds its own nest in low shrubs. Runs on the ground hunting large insects, lizards, and amphibians. Monotypic genus endemic to Mesoamerica.
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Related Comparisons
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More Birds in Family
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