The Red Billed Ground Cuckoo

Abstract

The jungles of Malaysia and southeast Asia contain many species of cuckoos, two of which form the genus Carpoccocyx. One of these, Carpococcyx renauldi, the red-billed or Renauld's Ground Cuckoo, is found primarily in Thailand and Vietnam and has been of ornithological interest since its discovery in 1895. At that time Father R. D. Renauld, a missionary of Quangtri Province in central Vietnam, · sent three skins to the museum in Paris. Oustalet described the species, aptly named Renauld's Cuckoo, from those

. skins in 1896 and published his findings in the Bulletin of the Paris Museum of Natural History, Volume 2, Page 314. Little more was heard about the species until 1915, when M. E. G. Herbert obtained two specimens in eastern Thailand and M. Williamson collected one in southern Thailand. These skins brought the number of specimens in museum collections to six: three in Paris, two in London and one in Thailand.

When Jean Delacour and M. P.

Jabouille, the civil officer and traveling commissioner of Vietnam, undertook an ornithological exploration of French Indo-China in 1923, one of their goals was to investigate the status and habits of this somewhat mysterious and secretive species. On April 1, 1924~ they obtained

their first two specimens which were collected by the residents of Phugia Province in central Vietnam. One of the specimens was sent to the Paris Museum, and the other was offered to Lord Rothschild.

In 1925 M. A. Neveu, director of the Saigon Zoological Garden, notified Delacour that the Zoo had received a specimen of Renauld' s Cuckoo and that it had adapted extremely well to captive conditions. Shortly thereafter an Indian settler named Gauthier, who resided in north Vietnam, provided the expedition with two live specimens in perfect condition. He apparently collected them from nests on an annual basis and, ignoring their rarity, raised them for food. Mr. Cahulet, administrator of the forestry department in Vietnam, was also instrumental in obtaining both live and dead specimens for the expedition.

It wasn't until the spring of 1926 that live specimens reached Europe, when two were imported into France by Delacour for his estate at Cleres. Both birds reportedly arrived in excellent condition although with somewhat ruffled plumage. Unfortunately one of these received a broken leg through an accident and had to be euthanized. The remaining

bird was transferred to the aviaries of M.A. Ezra at Foxwarren in England when Delacour left to return to Indo-China in the fall of 1926. In the spring of 1927, this specimen was joined by three others, also sent by Delacour.

By that time the exploration team had gained insight into the life of Renauld's Cuckoo. They found it to be a shy inhabitant of the thick jungle undergrowth of often inaccessible terrain; one that took cover at the slightest disturbance, usually escaping on foot; and one that defied easy observation and, therefore, a species perhaps not as rare as previously thought. They determined its diet to consist mainly of worms, grubs, insects and small vertebrates. They compared its vocalizations to that of the Argus or Rheinhardt' s pheasant, the male delivering his song while perched on a shrub or low-lying limb. They reported that during this display, the male would often open and close his wings many times while nodding his head up and down.

The first specimens, maintained by Delacour and subsequently by Ezra, were fed a diet of minced meat, mealworms, earth worms, mice, various insects and even bread and boiled maize. The fact that they were tolerant of other avian forms, both large and small, that occupied the same aviary was astonishing; however, it was noted that they were quite quarrelsome with each other when first introduced to the aviary as a small group. These specimens were kept outside from June to October and were tolerant of the often chilly nights. Moulting occurred in July.

Because there is no sexual dimorphism in the species, it was extremely difficult to select pairs. Thus, Ezra kept all four birds together. On July 3, 1927, the first egg was laid at Foxwarren in a nest composed of twigs and leaves and located beneath a small tree. Unfortunately, the egg disappeared within an hour. It was believed to have been eaten by other occupants of the aviary (babblers, rollers, rails and starlings) which, consequently, were removed, leaving the cuckoos by themselves. A second egg was laid July 4. It was sent to Lord Rothschild since it was the first to be described for the species. The egg was fairly round and white in color, with a somewhat rough shell. A third egg, laid on July 6, was incubated by at least three of the cuckoos for a period of ten days before it, too, disappeared. More eggs were produced over the next few years, with some fertiliry but without hatching success. Eventually all the cuckoos died, there being no opponunity for replacement.

At least one other collection, other

than those previously noted, was documented as having specimens of Renauld's Cuckoo prior to 1970. In 1971 (approximate) this species began appearing in both zoos and private collections as a few shipments originating in Thailand, no doubt, began arriving in the United States and Europe.

Several collections soon had birds that produced eggs, but it wasn't until 1975 that avicultural success was finally achieve in Europe at the Walsrode Bird Park. During 1977 both the Metro-Toronto and Philadelphia Zoos were also successful in propagating this species.

In 1972 the Philadelphia Zoo had obtained two specimens from different dealers, and both birds produced eggs in the years that followed. In December 1975 a third bird was obtained on breeding loan from the Bronx Zoo. As events would later prove, this bird was not only a male, but a viable one.

In the spring of 1977 an unknown egg was discovered on the ground in the large planted exhibit (30' long, 12' deep, 9' high) where the new bird and one of the females were housed. Placed in an incubator, the white egg (43.9 mm x 32.5 mm., weighing 2 3 g.) hatched on April 4. Although the nestling did not survive, it was identified as a young ground cuckoo. Weighing 21 g. , the young bird had slatecolored skin with sparse black hair-like down and a dark red mouth interior when it gaped.

The same pair built a nest in June in a dense shrub at about 5' above ground. Poorly constructed of twigs and leaves, the nest had a low profile and measured approximately 15" in diameter. By June 28, six eggs were in the nest and the onset of incubation was believed to have been June 26.

Only three of the eggs proved to be fertile; two eggs hatched on July 14 and the third the following day. Both parents had shared incubation duties, the female probably sitting 7 5 % of the time. They were also quite defensive on the nest, threatening keepers with open mouths and cocked wings. The parents fed the young ground cuckoos horsemeat and pinkies. Before feeding the chicks, they would rub the horsemeat into the soil substrate thoroughly coating it with earth. As the chicks grew, the parents would also tear apart and feed adult mice.