Order
Cuculiformes
Family
Cuculidae
Genus
Coccyzus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo Coccyzus vieilloti

Sarah W. Kendrick
Version: 1.0 — Published November 4, 2010

Distribution

Distribution in the Americas

Endemic to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoos are fairly common on the island, though inconspicuous, and occur at all elevations (Raffaele et al. 1998). In a list of vertebrate species for Los Tres Picachos Forest, the latest addition to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources state managed forests, Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoos were described as common in most habitats except near the peaks in elfin woods, and were more common below 900 m (Miranda-Castro et al. 2000).


Wetmore (1916) suggested that the species may have been a former resident of Vieques, as one specimen was collected on the island (Newton and Newton 1859). A single specimen, perhaps a stray bird, also was collected from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands (Wetmore 1927, Raffaele et al. 1998). No other records exist of the species  on other nearby islands.

Distribution outside the Americas

Endemic to Puerto Rico.

Habitat

Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoos are found across the island in a range of habitats including woodlands, coffee plantations, and thick, brush-covered limestone hills (Bond 1971). Other common habitat includes mountainous areas with thick forest, the dry coastal forest in the vicinity of Guánica, as well as swampy forest near Mameyes and other locales near the coast (Raffaele et al. 1998, Wetmore 1927).

Historical changes

None known.

Fossil history

Wetmore (1922) identified bones of unknown age from material collected by H. E. Anthony in caves near Morovis and Utuado (north-central Puerto Rico).

Distribution of the Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo

Recommended Citation

Kendrick, S. W. (2010). Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo (Coccyzus vieilloti), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.purlic1.01