Long-tailed Cuckoo Research Articles

Two undescribed species of bird from West Africa

Taxonomically undifferentiated western and eastern populations of Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo Cercococcyx mechowi and Yellow-spotted Barbet Buccanodon duchaillui are known to have very different voices. The cuckoo has two song types, a melodious three-note whistle and a plaintive whinnying in West Africa west of the Bakossi Mountains in Cameroon, and a much less melodious, higher-pitched three-note whistle and a much faster whinnying in Central Africa east of the Bakossi Mountains. The barbet has an accelerating song of some 6–11 hoots west of the Dahomey Gap and a rapid rolling purr to the east. Even though in plumage and morphometrics there is no unambiguous diagnostic distinction between these two vocal groups, analysis of their vocalisations demonstrates a high degree of differentiation. We consider the western groups as species, naming the cuckoo for Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire and the barbet for Robert Dowsett.

Photographic evidence of an adult Long-tailed Cuckoo Urodynamys taitensis visiting the nest of a Norfolk Island Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta

A remote motion-triggered camera captured images of an adult Long-tailed Cuckoo Urodynamys taitensis visiting and possibly depredating a Norfolk Island Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoproct a nest in late December 2018. This is the first documented instance of a Long-tailed Cuckoo visiting the nest of a Pachycephala species, and is a rare occurrence of this Cuckoo on Norfolk Island at this time of year. A preliminary comparison of the eggs of the Cuckoo and the Whistler indicates the Whistler as a potential brood-host for this Cuckoo on Norfolk Island.

Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Mohoua, endemic hosts of New Zealand’s obligate brood parasitic Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis)

The three species of New Zealand’s endemic Mohoua genus are sole hosts of the obligate brood parasitic Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis), making their intrageneric phylogenetic relationships particularly important for coevolutionary studies. Also, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have not identified the family-level placement of this genus. To resolve both intrageneric and family relationships, we generated new nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data and conducted phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference among representatives of endemic New Zealand passerines and Australasian ‘core Corvoidea’ lineages. The results establish strong intrageneric relationships of all three Mohoua species, confirm the monophyly of the genus, and suggest its placement in a re-erected monotypic family: Mohouidae.

Predicted visual sensitivity for short-wavelength light in the brood parasitic cuckoos of New Zealand

Different lineages of birds show varying sensitivity to light in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths. In several avian brood parasite-host systems, UV-reflectance of the parasite eggs is important in discriminating own from foreign eggs by the hosts. In turn, for parasitic females it may be beneficial to lay eggs into host clutches where eggs more closely match the parasite's own eggs. While the visual sensitivities of numerous cuckoo- and cowbird-host species have been described, less is known about those of their respective parasites. Such sensory characterization is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying potential perceptual coevolutionary processes between hosts and parasites, as well as for better understanding each species' respective visual sensory ecology. We sequenced the short wavelength-sensitive type 1 (SWS1) opsin gene to predict the degree of UV- sensitivity in both of New Zealand's obligate parasitic cuckoo species, the Shining Cuckoo (Chalcites (Chrysococcyx) lucidus) and the Long-tailed Cuckoo (Urodynamis (Eudynamis) taitensis). We show that both species are predicted to possess SWS1 opsins with maximal sensitivity in the human-visible violet portion of the short-wavelength light spectrum, and not in the UV. Future studies should focus on the (mis)matching in host-parasite visual sensitivities with respect to host-parasite egg similarity as perceived by the avian visual system and the behavioral outcomes of foreign egg rejection.

Piecing together the epic transoceanic migration of the Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis): an analysis of museum and sighting records

Long-tailed Cuckoos (Eudynamys taitensis) breed in New Zealand and winter in an arc of small Pacific islands extending 11 000 km from west to east. To understand this migration better, we compiled records of Cuckoos in time (month) and space (latitude, longitude), using museum voucher specimens and literature records. At the start of the breeding season (October-December) virtually all birds in New Zealand are in adult plumage; non-adult Cuckoos are almost entirely absent until late summer and autumn. In the northward post-breeding migration, adults move first and non-adults show a lag of up to 3 months in the timing of their departure. Non-adults are scarce after June in the Pacific wintering islands, and transitionals (with plumage between that of adults and non-adults) are very scarce after September, suggesting that they quickly moult into adult plumage. From June to October the average longitude of Cuckoos wintering north of New Zealand decreases progressively, consistent with a movement westward. This suggests that a portion of the Cuckoo population may undertake an anticlockwise loop-migration. This may also partly explain the unusual distribution of the species fanning out from the breeding to the wintering grounds.

Long-tailed cuckoo, Urodynamis taitensis, uses mimetic begging calls to solicit food from host whiteheads, Mohoua albicilla, in New Zealand. Photo reproduced by permission of Tim Lovegrove.

Long-tailed cuckoo, Urodynamis taitensis, uses mimetic begging calls to solicit food from host whiteheads, Mohoua albicilla, in New Zealand. Photo reproduced by permission of Tim Lovegrove.

Toward Resolving Deep Neoaves Phylogeny: Data, Signal Enhancement, and Priors

We report three developments toward resolving the challenge of the apparent basal polytomy of neoavian birds. First, we describe improved conditional down-weighting techniques to reduce noise relative to signal for deeper divergences and find increased agreement between data sets. Second, we present formulae for calculating the probabilities of finding predefined groupings in the optimal tree. Finally, we report a significant increase in data: nine new mitochondrial (mt) genomes (the dollarbird, New Zealand kingfisher, great potoo, Australian owlet-nightjar, white-tailed trogon, barn owl, a roadrunner [a ground cuckoo], New Zealand long-tailed cuckoo, and the peach-faced lovebird) and together they provide data for each of the six main groups of Neoaves proposed by Cracraft J (2001). We use his six main groups of modern birds as priors for evaluation of results. These include passerines, cuckoos, parrots, and three other groups termed "WoodKing" (woodpeckers/rollers/kingfishers), "SCA" (owls/potoos/owlet-nightjars/hummingbirds/swifts), and "Conglomerati." In general, the support is highly significant with just two exceptions, the owls move from the "SCA" group to the raptors, particularly accipitrids (buzzards/eagles) and the osprey, and the shorebirds may be an independent group from the rest of the "Conglomerati". Molecular dating mt genomes support a major diversification of at least 12 neoavian lineages in the Late Cretaceous. Our results form a basis for further testing with both nuclear-coding sequences and rare genomic changes.

FREQUENCY OF EGG REJECTION BY POTENTIAL HOSTS OF THE NEW ZEALAND CUCKOOS

Abstract Host-specific brood parasites use a limited diversity of host species to raise their young. The two species of parasitic cuckoo that occur in New Zealand, Shining Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus) and Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis), are both host specific despite the availability of other apparently suitable species to act as hosts. To determine if host specificity has been shaped by the widespread occurrence of egg rejection among potential hosts, I tested the response of nine native passerine species to brood parasitism by the experimental addition of artificial cuckoo eggs to their nests. Artificial Shining Cuckoo eggs were rejected at least some of the time in eight of nine species tested, but levels of rejection were generally low. The majority of hosts accepted artificial Long-tailed Cuckoo eggs, and only the Brown Creeper (Mohoua novaeseelandiae) rejected eggs of both cuckoos. The occurrence of egg rejection in species currently not used as hosts (e.g., New Zealand Robin [Petroica au...

Evidence for altitudinal migration of forest birds between montane Eastern Arc and lowland forests in East Africa

Burgess, N.D. & Mlingwa, C.O.F. 2000. Evidence for altitudinal migration of forest birds between montane Eastern Arc and lowland forests in East Africa. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 184–190. In this paper we assess the evidence for altitudinal movements of forest birds from the montane forests of the Eastern Arc mountains of East Africa to nearby lowland forest patches. For 34 montane species, including all the Eastern Arc endemics except Banded Green Sunbird Anthreptes rubritorques there is no evidence that they undertake seasonal movements to lower altitudes. An additional 26 montane species, of somewhat wider distribution, have been recorded at low (<500 m) altitudes during the cold/dry season (June to September). Most records of these montane birds at lower altitudes are from sites adjoining montane forest areas, although a few records are from lowland coastal forests at 100–240 km distance from montane areas. Only five of the 26 species (White-chested Alethe Alethe fulleborni, White-starred Forest Robin Pogonocichla stellata, Orange Ground Thrush Zoothera gurneyi, Evergreen Forest Warbler Bradypterus mariae and Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo Cercococcyx montanus) are regularly and commonly reported in the lowlands. They are also found in the lowlands in small numbers during the warm/wet season (October to February), when they may breed. The abundance of at least four, and probably more, of the forest birds with a more widespread distribution in the lowland and montane forests of East Africa declines greatly at high altitudes from the onset of the cold/wet season (February) and only increases again at the start of the warm/wet season (September). It is not known how far these species move as they cannot be easily separated from resident populations in lowland forests, and there are no ringing recoveries in different forests. Altitudinal migration of a proportion of the Eastern Arc avifauna is the most likely explanation for available data, although source-sink metapopulation theories may be helpful to explain the distributions of some species. As the movement of forest birds from the Eastern Arc to the lowland forests does not involve the rare endemics, they are of lower conservation concern, but the presence of montane and lowland forest may be important for the long-term survival of some more widely distributed forest species.

Occurrence of the Long-tailed Cuckoo Eudynamis taitensis on Caroline Atoll, Kiribati

Occurrence of the Long-tailed Cuckoo <i>Eudynamis taitensis</i> on Caroline Atoll, Kiribati

Morphometrics of forest birds in the Orongorongo Valley, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract Birds in indigenous forest in the Orongorongo Valley, Wellington, were mist-netted from 1967 to 1976, and 3902 were weighed and measured. Average weight and measurements are given for New Zealand pigeon, shining cuckoo, long-tailed cuckoo, morepork, New Zealand kingfisher, rifleman, hedgesparrow, whitehead, grey warbler, fantail, tomtit, song thrush, blackbird, silvereye, bellbird, tui, and chaffinch. In 5 species males and females were easily identifiable by plumage differences, and also differed in size. Whiteheads were sometimes mis-sexed on the basis of head colour. Tui were not sexually dichromatic, but were strongly dimorphic, and were sexed by weight and wing length. Principal component analysis of measurements of tui and whitehead each produced 2 clusters of points that were assumed to represent males and females. The clusters for tui agreed with the identification derived from weight and wing length. Some Whiteheads classified as females from plumage were classified as males by principal...

Notes on Urodynamis taitensis and description of its egg

Notes on Urodynamis taitensis and description of its egg

The New Zealand Godwit (Limosa novæ-zelandiæ)

THE Maori of New Zealand have an ancient saying or proverb, “Who can tell where the kuaka (the godwit) has its nest?” No doubt the Maori were well acquainted with the singular habit of these birds, in that they leave the shores of New Zealand, for a distant land across the seas, about the same time that other migratory birds, which have wintered on the Pacific Islands located nearer the tropics, are nesting and rearing their young in the New Zealand forests, to which country they periodically return for the summer season. Such, for example, are the long-tailed cuckoo and the small bronze-cuckoo, known to the Maori as “the bird of Hawaiki”—that is, the bird who returns to the land from whence the Maori ancestors originally came.

Societies and Academies

Societies and Academies