Piaya minuta
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The little cuckoo (Coccycua minuta) is a species of bird in the cuckoo family (Cuculidae) from South America and Panama. It was formerly placed in the genus Piaya, but was moved to the reinstated genus Coccycua following the discovery that its closest living relatives are a couple species traditionally placed in Coccyzus or Micrococcyx, rather than the other members of Piaya.
This species is about 27 centimetres (11 in) long and weighs 40 grams (1.4 oz). The adult is mainly chestnut brown, with a greyish lower belly, browner tail and white tips to the tail feathers. The bill is yellow, short, and decurved; the iris of the eyes is red. Immature birds are dark brown with a black bill and no white tail tips. It is smaller and the throat is darker than in the squirrel cuckoo.
The little cuckoo makes harsh chek and kak calls. This small cuckoo occurs from Panama and Trinidad south through Colombia to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil; in Ecuador, it has been recorded as high up as 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) ASL. The little cuckoo is found in mangrove swamps, and scrubby woodland near water. It is generally believed to be an all-year resident, but... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Cuckoo sighting in Caroni Swamp on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 80th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Little Cuckoo in Caroni Swamp on a given day, against under 5% in February and November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Cuckoo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Little Cuckoo sightings, Caroni Swamp has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 10%) and Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 10%).
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the Little Cuckoo that you can see in Caroni Swamp (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Smooth-billed Ani (about 40%), Greater Ani (about 20%) and Striped Cuckoo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Cuckoo is recorded against all the birds logged in Caroni Swamp (68 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
