Squirrel cuckoo

File:ALMA-DE-GATO (Piaya cayana).jpg

File:Squirrel cuckoo (02988).jpg

This large and extremely long-tailed cuckoo is {{convert|40.5|-|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|95|-|120|g|oz|abbr=on}}. 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 {{not a typo|kip!}} and {{not a typo|kip! weeuu}} calls, and the song is a whistled {{not a typo|wheep wheep wheep wheep}}.

File:Piaya cayana -Belize -eating a caterpillar-8.jpg

The squirrel cuckoo is found in woodland canopy and edges, second growth, hedges and semi-open habitats from sea level to as high as {{convert|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, although it is uncommon above {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

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, small amphibians and reptiles,{{cite web|title=Piaya cayana (Squirrel Cuckoo or Coucou Manioc)|website=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago|publisher=UWI |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Piaya_cayana%20-%20Squirrel%20Cuckoo%20or%20Coucou%20Manioc.pdf}} such as small lizards, rarely taking fruit.e.g. of Trophis racemosa (Moraceae). Its non-flying prey is typically taken off the foliage with a quick lunge, but wasps may be caught on the wing. 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.

The nest is a cup of leaves on a twig foundation, hidden in dense vegetation {{convert|1|-|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} 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 woodland remains. Compared to many cuckoos in the world, it is relatively bold and conspicuous, although it is most often encountered skulking about within vegetation. Owing to its wide range, it is considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

{{Reflist|refs=

• {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S0101-81752007000300022| title = Comportamentos interespecíficos entre Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Primates, Callitrichidae) e algumas aves de Mata Atlântica, Pernambuco, Brasil|trans-title=Interspecific behaviour between Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Callitrichidae, Primates) and some birds of the Atlantic forest, Pernanbuco State, Brazil| journal = Revista Brasileira de Zoologia| volume = 24| issue = 3| pages = 709| year = 2007| last1 = Lyra-Neves | first1 = R. M. D. | last2 = Oliveira | first2 = M. A. B. | last3 = Telino-Júnior | first3 = W. R. | last4 = Santos | first4 = E. M. D. | doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0959270906000554| title = The potential of fruit trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico| journal = Bird Conservation International| volume = 17| pages = 45–61| year = 2007| last1 = Foster | first1 = M. S. | doi-access = free| bibcode = 2007BirCI..17...45F}}
• {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S0034-71081999000100010| title = A composição dos bandos mistos de aves na Mata Atlântica da Serra de Paranapiacaba, no sudeste brasileiro |trans-title=Mixed flocks of birds in Atlantic Rain Forest in Serra de Paranapiacaba, southeastern Brazil| journal = Revista Brasileira de Biologia| volume = 59| pages = 75–85 | year = 1999| last1 = Machado | first1 = C. G.| doi-access = free}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-squirrel-cuckoo.html |title=Squirrel Cuckoo |website=Oiseaux-birds.com |accessdate=3 May 2014}}
• {{BirdLife|61419028|Piaya mexicana}}

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• {{cite book |last1 = ffrench |first1 = Richard |last2=O'Neill |first2=John Patton |last3=Eckelberry |first3=Don R.|title=A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago |edition = 2nd |year = 1991 |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |publisher = Comstock Publishing |isbn = 978-0-8014-9792-6 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hilty |first=Steven L. |date=2003 |title=Birds of Venezuela |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-7136-6418-8 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Stiles |first1=F. Gary |last2=Skutch |first2=Alexander F. |date=1989 |title=A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica |publisher=Comstock Publishing Associates |isbn=978-0-8014-9600-4 }}

{{Commons category|Piaya cayana}}

{{Wikispecies|Piaya cayana}}

• {{InternetBirdCollection|squirrel-cuckoo-piaya-cayana|Squirrel cuckoo}}
• {{VIREO|Squirrel+Cuckoo}}
• {{NeotropicalBirds|squcuc1|Squirrel cuckoo}}
• {{IUCN_Map|61418830/163878817|Piaya cayana}}

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squirrel cuckoo

Category:Birds of Central America

Category:Birds of South America

Category:Birds of Trinidad and Tobago

squirrel cuckoo

squirrel cuckoo