The Pheasant Cuckoo has a long tail and rufous crest and searches for food on the forest floor.
It is mostly gray with a pale belly and a brown, dark-speckled throat and breast. A rufous crest and long, broad tail are also prominent.
It forages on the ground, spreading its wings and tail to flush insects before catching them. It is inconspicuous; in Peru, it is recorded in foothill forest up to 1,000 m.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.