Sumatran ground cuckoo

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Sumatran ground cuckoo
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cuculiformes
Family:	Cuculidae
Genus:	Carpococcyx
Species:	C. viridis
Binomial name
Carpococcyx viridis Salvadori, 1879

The Sumatran ground cuckoo (Carpococcyx viridis) is a large, terrestrial species of cuckoo endemic to the forests of Sumatra in Indonesia.^[1] It was described in 1879 and was formerly considered conspecific with the Bornean ground cuckoo until being given status as a unique species in 2000.^{[1][failed verification]} Considered a critically endangered species by the IUCN Red List, it was initially known from just eight specimens and evaded notice from 1916 until 1997, when it was rediscovered and photographed.^[2] The Sumatran ground cuckoo's diet is thought to consist of invertebrates, small mammals, and reptiles.^[3]

The Sumatran ground cuckoo is a large bird of about 55 cm (22 in) in length.^[1] Its wings and long, full tail are glossy greenish-black,^[1] while its mantle, upper back, neck sides, lower throat, upper breast, covert feathers, and secondary feathers are dull green.^[1] Its crown is black, and the bare skin around its eyes are hues of green, lilac, and blue.^[1] Its bill and legs are green, and its underparts below the upper breast are cinnamon buff.^[1] The IUCN describes its voice as follows: "Repeated low whistles (falling then rising in tone: WE-ow-WE), plus issued in a rising series (we-ow-we, we-ow-we, we-ow-we, we-ow-we; each phrase slightly higher than last)."^[1]

The Sumatran ground cuckoo is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra.^[1] Notes on early specimen labels as well as recent sightings suggest its favoured habitat is foothills and primary montane rainforest.^[1][3] It has been found between elevations of 300 and 1400 m (975 and 4600 ft).^[4]

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species estimates that the total population of Sumatran ground cuckoos ranges from 50 to 249 mature individuals, and its population is thought to be decreasing.^[1] It is considered one of the 100 most endangered bird species in the world.^[5] It may be unobtrusive like the Bornean ground cuckoo, which could further explain how few times it has been observed.^[1]

Most modern-day sightings have taken place in the Barisan Mountains in South Sumatra and the Kerinci Seblat National Park of Jambi province, beginning with an individual photographed in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in 1997.^[2] Five more sightings were reported nearby between 2007 and 2010. An additional unconfirmed sighting took place in the Bukit Rimbang-Baling Wildlife Sanctuary in 2000.^[1] In 2006, a camera trap surveying for tigers close to Kerinci Seblat National Park, also in the Barisan Mountains, captured multiple images of the Sumatran ground cuckoo for the first time since 1997 and only the second time in the last ninety years.^{[6][failed verification]} In 2007, its call was recorded for the first time by Wildlife Conservation Society biologists after a trapper handed them a bird he had caught.^[7] In 2017, a camera trap in Batang Gadis National Park took a photo of a Sumatran ground cuckoo, indicating that a previously unknown population may exist in North Sumatra.^[6]

Due to ongoing habitat loss and small population size, the IUCN Red List evaluates the Sumatran ground cuckoo as critically endangered.^[1] Its known range overlaps with some of the Barisan Mountains' 20 protected areas,^[2] but a 2003 study showed rapid deforestation – the species' main threat – even in these areas.^[1][8] The study showed an average 2% loss of forest within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, one of the bird's primary refuges, between 1985 and 1999.^[8] The park's lower montane forest is usually removed to make way for palm oil plantations; since 2006 Indonesia has been the biggest producer of palm oil and has seen a 400% growth in production between 1994 and 2004. Production is expected to double by the end of 2030.^[9] As the Sumatran ground cuckoo prefers primary forest with dense undergrowth, reforestation is unlikely to be as effective as protective measures for currently existing habitat.^[1] The species likely benefits from protected areas, but its conservation needs are not fully understood due to a lack of study.^[1]

• Tiger trap goes cuckoo article at BirdLife International
• "Sumatran ground-cuckoo media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Interactive range map of Carpococcyx viridis at IUCN Red List