Similar to other species endemic to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is rarely reported due to ongoing armed conflict in the Albertine Rift.

[3] The name commemorates the German zoologist Rudolf Grauer who collected natural history specimens in the Belgian Congo.

[5][6] Due to the political instability of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is hard to assess the current status and distribution of birds in the region.

[7] Grauer's cuckooshrike is known from other protected areas, such as Kahuzi-Biega National Park, but there are few (if any) recent records from these regions.

More studies and surveys are required to assess its current status, but these are impractical given security concerns within much of this species' range.