In Search Of the Elusive Mangrove Cuckoo

Sanibel, FL (80 degrees, clear blue skies)

The title of our blog today sounds like a good one for a mystery novel.  Finding a Mangrove Cuckoo can really be very mysterious, full of tricks and turns in every direction, and very difficult to achieve. Birders travel from all over in hopes of seeing one here at the refuge. Unfortunately, they are very difficult to find and observe and hide themselves in the dense mangroves.  Their range is very small in the U.S. and are only found in the Keys and the Gulf Coast areas of Florida.  

We heard one calling once but could not find it last summer.  Fortunately for us a scientist is studying this bird with the Ecostudies Institute.  In fact, Rachel has dedicated herself to studying this bird since 2012.  Due to the declining population of this bird, her goal is to gain more knowledge about some of their habits in hopes of developing strategies to preserve and protect this species for future generation. She lives in a trailer in the same area we do with the resident volunteers and interns and generously offered to take us out with her to assist in some of her studies.  

You have to get up pretty darn early to do this type of research.  

We hoped to catch one in a mist net, tag it, collect data, and attach a radio transmitter  before releasing it back to the wild.  Great strategy. but sometimes plans do not work out so well.  Last week we went out with her after a heavy rain storm the night before.  She played calls to attract the bird (she has a special license to do this on the refuge) and we stopped frequently along the drive playing the recordings. We did not hear one cuckoo.  Then the truck broke down.  Sheesh!  After a jump start we limped back to the refuge and hoped to go out another time.

Today was the day!  Again we had an early start and had to quickly put on mosquito jackets due to the no-see-ums being ferocious and very hungry.

Mosquito jacket

It was a beautiful morning and a few Roseate Spoonbills, White Pelican, and a Red-shouldered Hawk greeted us.

Dawn breaking over the mangroves

White Pelicans

Roseate Spoonbills

Red-shouldered hawk catching the sunrise

We stopped the truck and Rachel used her special speaker to call the cuckoo.  After only two stops we started to hear one calling back very close by.  We quickly put up the tall mist nets to see if we could lure one in.  

The net is almost invisible once in place

Rachel using a remote control device to call the cuckoo

After the net was in place we  heard two cuckoos.  Wow!  They came closer and closer and then.... left. We were so disappointed.  So, we took a deep breath, packed up the nets, and moved on down the drive.  

Rachel used the caller at several locations and then at an overlook heard one in the far distance across the water on a mangrove island.  With each passing minute he or she started coming closer and closer and then the magical moment arrived.  Out the cuckoo popped from deep inside the mangroves and landed on a dead tree branch high above them.  We were ecstatic.  

Rachel told us the bird seemed very curious and we might try returning to the drive and seeing if it would follow and come closer to view.  It was our lucky day!  He traveled across the water and out he popped for us to get a much closer view.  What a beauty.  Check out his yellow eye ring.  For some reason, unknown at this time, sometimes they have one and sometimes do not.  

A second Mangrove Cuckoo also suddenly appeared.  In all the excitement, we did not get a picture of this one.  We also were not able to capture the birds due to the light being too bright at this point. and the cuckoos would have noticed the nets.  

Me and Rachel

Being able to assist Rachel in a small way today was amazing.  Being a volunteer at a refuge has it's advantages.  Although, we do not expect anything in return other than our site this special opportunity was priceless to us.  

Rachel is doing some great research here at the refuge on a shoestring budget.  She is very dedicated and passionate about the Mangrove Cuckoos.  If you would like to help her research by offering a donation or sponsoring a cuckoo please click this link for all the details.  You can also donate through the Ding Darling Wildlife Society.  Please designate your donation for the Mangrove Cuckoo Project at this link.