The banded ground-cuckoo is a ground forager, rummaging for food on foot through the forest undergrowth (4). It searches primarily for invertebrates, such as grasshoppers, but also some vertebrates such as frogs. Another primary food source is the swarms of army ants, which the cuckoo follows by means of short sprints alongside other foraging bird species. When a food item is found, the banded ground-cuckoo exhibits an extraordinary behaviour, running quickly in an excited zigzag pattern, kicking up leaves of the understory as it goes. This unusual running behaviour earned the cuckoo its local name “correlona” which means fast runner (2).
Unlike other cuckoo species, the banded ground-cuckoo is not a brood parasite when it comes to parental care, as it raises its own young. Breeding occurs from March to June and both parents contribute equally to the care of the single nestling, including all aspects of incubation, brooding and food provisioning (3) (6). Nests are built in the understory of trees predominantly in primary forest, at around four metres above ground level (3).