The Sumatran ground cuckoo is listed as critically endangered in the wild. © Wildlife Conservation Society

For the first time the call of elusive Sumatran ground cuckoo (Carpococcyx viridis), a species glimpsed only occasionally over the last several decades, was recorded by an Indonesia team of conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society this past March. Endemic to Sumatra, BirdLife International lists the large, ground-dwelling bird as critically endangered primarily due to habitat encroachment by agriculture.

“Knowledge of their calls is therefore a vital aid to surveying, and this recording may help conservationists learn more about the distribution of this secretive species,” said Dr. Stuart Butchart of BirdLife.

Members of the conservation society kept the cuckoo while it recovered from an injured foot, but it will later be released back into the northern Bukit Baresan Selatan National Park where local hunters originally captured it.
To hear its call, visit www.wcs.org.