Squirrel Cuckoo

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Squirrel Cuckoo
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Piaya
Species: P. cayana
Binomial name
Piaya cayana
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana) is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad.

Description

The contrasting undertail plumage. Notice the red eye-ring, typical of Squirrel Cuckoos in most of South America

This large and extremely long-tailed cuckoo is 40.5–50 centimetres (15.9–19.7 in) long and weighs 95–120 grams (3.4–4.2 oz).[2] The adult has mainly chestnut upperparts and head, becoming paler on the throat. The lower breast is grey and the belly is blackish. The central tail feathers are rufous, but the outer are black with white tips. The bill is yellow and the iris is red. Immature birds have a grey bill and eyering, brown iris, and less white in the tail. It resembles the Little Cuckoo, but that species is smaller and has a darker throat

There are a number of subspecies with minor plumage variations. For example, P. c. mehleri, one of the South American subspecies, has mainly brown (not black) outer tail feathers. Additionally, the subspecies from Mexico, Central America, and northern and western South America have a yellow eye-ring, but this is red in the remaining part of South America.

It makes explosive kip! and kip! weeuu calls, and the song is a whistled wheep wheep wheep wheep.

Habitat and behavior

Squirrel Cuckoo with a large caterpillar. Notice the yellow eye-ring (the eye itself is reddish), typical of the subspecies from Mexico, Central America, and northern and western South America

The Squirrel Cuckoo is found in woodland canopy and edges, second growth, hedges and semi-open habitats from sea level to as high as 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), although it is uncommon above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). This species’ English name derives from its habit of running along branches and leaping from branch to branch like a squirrel. It normally flies only short distances, mainly gliding with an occasional flap.

It feeds on large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars (including those with stinging hairs or spines), and occasionally spiders and small lizards, rarely taking fruit.[3] Its static prey is typically taken off the foliage with a quick lunge, but wasps may be picked out of the air. Squirrel Cuckoos are often observed to forage peacefully alongside small mammals such as Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) during the dry season for cocoa beans. In particular, they can be seen to attend army ant columns together, picking off prey flushed by the ants, and occasionally will join mixed-species feeding flocks.[4]

The nest is a cup of leaves on a twig foundation, hidden in dense vegetation 1–12 metres (3.3–39.4 ft) high in a tree. The female lays two white eggs.

The Squirrel Cuckoo is plentiful in most of its range and appears to be quite tolerant of human disturbance, as long as wooded land remains.[5] Compared to many cuckoos in the world, it is relatively bold and conspicuous, although it most often encountered skulking about within vegetation. Due to its wide range, it is considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.[6]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Piaya cayana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  2. ↑ http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-squirrel-cuckoo.html
  3. ↑ E.g. of Trophis racemosa (Moraceae).
  4. ↑ Machado (1999), de Lyra-Neves et al. (2007), Foster (2007)
  5. ↑ Foster (2007)
  6. ↑ BLI (2008)

References

  • de Lyra-Neves, Rachel M.; Oliveira, Maria A.B.; Telino-Júnior,Wallace R. & dos Santos, Ednilza M. (2007): Comportamentos interespecíficos entre Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Primates, Callitrichidae) e algumas aves de Mata Atlântica, Pernambuco, Brasil [Interspecific behaviour between Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Callitrichidae, Primates) and some birds of the Atlantic forest, Pernanbuco State, Brazil]. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24(3): 709–716 [Portuguese with English abstract]. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752007000300022 PDF fulltext.
  • ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2
  • Foster, Mercedes S. (2007): The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico. Bird Conservation International 17(1): 45-61. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000554
  • Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
  • Machado, C.G. (1999): A composição dos bandos mistos de aves na Mata Atlântica da Serra de Paranapiacaba, no sudeste brasileiro [Mixed flocks of birds in Atlantic Rain Forest in Serra de Paranapiacaba, southeastern Brazil]. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 59(1): 75-85 [Portuguese with English abstract]. doi:10.1590/S0034-71081999000100010 PDF fulltext
  • Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4

External links

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