Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo (Coccyzus vieilloti) is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico.[4][5]
| Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Coccyzus |
| Species: | C. vieilloti |
| Binomial name | |
| Coccyzus vieilloti (Bonaparte, 1850) | |
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| Synonyms | |
Taxonomy and systematics
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo and three other lizard cuckoos were for a time considered a single species. Individually they were previously placed in genus Saurothera that was later merged into the current Coccyzus, and they are considered a superspecies. All four of them are found only on islands in the Caribbean. The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is monotypic.[2][4]
The species' specific epithet and the former English name "Vieilloti’s Ground Cuckoo" commemorate French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot.[2]
Description
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is 40 to 48 cm (16 to 19 in) long, about half of which is the tail. It has a long decurved bill with a black maxilla and a yellow mandible with a black tip. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have entirely gray-brown upperparts. Their throat and breast are gray and the belly and undertail coverts tawny. The upper surface of their tail is gray-brown and the underside gray brown darkening to black near the large white tips. Their eye is surrounded by bare red skin. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash on the breast, less black on the underside of the tail, and an orange-red eye ring.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is found throughout the main island of Puerto Rico. It might have once resided on Isla Vieques, and a single specimen believed to be a vagrant was collected on St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands. It inhabits a variety of forested landscapes including semi-open woodlands, dense montane forest, dry coastal forest, and swamp forest. It is also found in coffee plantations and brushy limestone hills. In elevation it is most common between sea level and 900 m (3,000 ft) but can be found almost to the highest peaks of the island.[3]
Behavior
Movement
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo sits motionless for long periods and is more often heard than seen. It is non-migratory.[3]
Feeding
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo mostly forages for prey from the middle to upper layers of the forest, though it also hunts in the understory and on the ground. It hunts by stealth, climbing along tree branches or walking on the ground. Its principal food is lizards (especially Anolis) and also includes adult and larval insects, eggs, and occasionally frogs.[3]
Breeding
Almost nothing is known about the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo's breeding phenology. Its nest is a loose platform made of sticks and placed in a tree or large bush. The clutch size is two or three eggs.[3]
Vocalization
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo's principal call is " a harsh series of ka-ka-ka-ka notes." The call is described in more detail as "an emphatic ka-ka-ka-ka of long duration gradually accelerating and becoming louder, sometimes with altered syllables at the end". The species also makes other calls likened to those of jays, crows, ravens, and doves.[3]
A local name for the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is pájaro bobo mayor, "big ape bird", apparently because it sounds like a monkey. It is also called pájaro de lluvia or pájaro de agua ("rain bird") in the belief that its call forecasts rain.[3]
Status
The IUCN has assessed the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo as being of Least Concern. It has a somewhat restricted range and an estimated population of 2200 to 3000 mature individuals that is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] Its biology is very poorly known, and "[r]eproductive information, ranging from breeding territoriality and behavior, to reproductive success, is almost non-existent."[3]
See also
References
- BirdLife International (2022). "Puerto Rican Lizard-cuckoo Coccyzus vieilloti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22684417A210614517. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22684417A210614517.en. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- "Check-list of North and Middle American Birds". American Ornithological Society. August 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
- Kendrick, S. W. (2020). Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo (Coccyzus vieilloti), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.purlic1.01 retrieved September 26, 2022
- Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022
Further reading
- Oberle, Mark W., 1999; Birds of Puerto Rico in Photographs, Editorial Humanitas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1st Edition.
- Raffaele, Herbert W., 1989; A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
- Oberle, Mark (2003). Las aves de Puerto Rico en fotografías (in Spanish). Editorial Humanitas. p. 14. ISBN 0-9650104-2-2.