Banded ground cuckoo

The banded ground cuckoo (Neomorphus radiolosus) is a vulnerable species of cuckoo in the tribe Neomorphini of subfamily Crotophaginae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.^[2][3][1]

The banded ground cuckoo is monotypic.^[2] It shares genus Neomorphus with three or four other species depending on the chosen taxonomic system.^[2][4][5][3]

The banded ground cuckoo is about 46 cm (18 in) long, about half of which is its tail, and weighs about 400 g (14 oz). Adults have a heavy decurved bill with a black to dusky maxilla and a grayish mandible tipped with blue-gray. Males and females have the same plumage. Adults have a black forehead and crown and a shaggy, glossy, blue-black, erectile crest. Their face is dark with bare blue skin behind the eye. Their hindneck is glossy blue-black and their upper back black with white edges giving a scaly appearance. Their lower back and rump are rich maroon-chestnut and their uppertail coverts metallic green. Their tail is black with a purple and green gloss on the upper side. Their wings have black outer primaries and purplish-red and black inner primaries and secondaries. Their underparts except the undertail coverts are black with the same scaly appearance as the lower back; the coverts are plain black. Juveniles' scaling is mostly ochraceous with some white on the breast and their crest is blackish without blue.^[6]

The banded ground cuckoo is found in the Chocó Ecoregion on the Pacific slope of southern Colombia and far northern Ecuador. It is "rare and localized, and occurs at very low density throughout its distribution." It inhabits wet to very wet tropical primary forest. In elevation it mostly ranges between 700 and 1,200 m (2,300 and 3,900 ft) though it has been observed both higher and lower.^[6]

صنّف الاتحاد الدولي لحفظ الطبيعة طائر الوقواق الأرضي المخطط في البداية على أنه مهدد بالانقراض، ثم في عام 1994 على أنه مهدد بالانقراض، وفي عام 2000 على أنه معرض للخطر، وفي عام 2009 مرة أخرى على أنه مهدد بالانقراض، وبحلول عام 2024 عاد تصنيفه إلى معرض للخطر. يتميز هذا الطائر بنطاق جغرافي محدود ومتطلبات بيئية محددة للغاية. ويُقدّر عدد أفراده البالغة بين 2500 و12000 فرد، وهو عدد متفرق ويُعتقد أنه في تناقص. ويتعرض موطنه للتدهور في جميع أنحاء نطاق انتشاره، كما أنه يُصطاد للحصول على لحومه. ^{[ 1 ]}

• كاروبيان، جوردان؛ كاراسكو، لويس (2008). "النطاق المكاني وتفضيلات الموائل لطائر الوقواق الأرضي المخطط ( Neomorphus radiolosus )" . مجلة ويلسون لعلم الطيور . 120 (1): 205-209 .