The Story
This Dwarf Cuckoo (Coccycua pumila) was at Hacienda El Escobal in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. Its natural habitats include dry forest, moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest. Ibagué, the capital of Tolima, sits on the Central Andes between the Combeima Canyon and the Magdalena valley, near Nevado del Tolima. Hacienda El Escobal is part of the Picaleña lagoon complex, and by eBird’s December 2021 data 309 bird species had been reported there. Cortolima lists El Escobal, on the Meseta de Ibagué, among the city’s 13 priority birding routes.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200. IUCN lists the Dwarf Cuckoo as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Dwarf Cuckoo (Coccycua pumila) belongs to the family Cuculidae (Cuckoos) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List