Order
Cuculiformes
Family
Cuculidae
Genus
Piaya
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana

Jenny Fitzgerald, Thomas S. Schulenberg, and Glenn F. Seeholzer
Version: 1.0 — Published March 28, 2011

Appearance

Distinguishing Characteristics

Squirrel Cuckoos are large arboreal cuckoos with a very long, graduated tail. The upperparts are rufous brown; the throat and breast are buffy; and the belly is light gray. The long tail is rufous above but the undersides of the rectrices are blackish, with broad white tips. The name 'Squirrel Cuckoo' comes from their coloration and the fact that their movements in trees resemble those of a squirrel at first glance.

Similar Species

In much of its range, the Squirrel Cuckoo is highly distinctive and is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The Squirrel Cuckoo is very similar to the Black-bellied Cuckoo (Piaya melanogaster) of the humid lowlands of northern and central South America east of the Andes, and the range of Squirrel Cuckoo completely overlaps that of Black-bellied. The Black-bellied Cuckoo differs by its distinct gray crown, red (not greenish yellow) bill, yellow loral spot, blue (not yellow or red) orbital ring, and blackish (not gray) belly. In Amazonia, the two species also differ in habitat preferences, with Black-bellied in terra firme forest and Squirrel in seasonally flooded forest and forest edge (Hilty and Brown 1986, Schulenberg et al. 2007); but elsewhere the two species may overlap in habitat, and may even be interspecifically territorial (Hilty 2003).

Detailed Description

The following description is based on Ridgway (1916), Dickey and van Rossem (1938),  and Wetmore (1968), and refers to Piaya cayana thermophila:

Adult: Sexes similar. Upperparts chestnut to rufous-chestnut, usually paler on the crown. Remiges tipped with grayish brown. Tail long, graduated. Rectrices rufous-chestnut above with a broad white terminal spot and a black subterminal bar; the underside of the rectrices primarily brownish-black, with a broad terminal white spot. Throat and breast cinnamon. Belly gray, shading to slate to slaty black on the flanks, crissum, and undertail coverts. Underwing coverts light gray; underside of remiges cinnamon-buff.

Immature (Formative plumage): Similar to adult, but rectrices (retained from the Juvenile or First Basic plumage) are narrower, with more pointed tips, and (especially on the central pair) the white tips and the black subterminal bar are reduced in size.

Juvenile (First Basic plumage): Similar to adult, but the plumages is more lax and fluffy, and the throat is a little grayer. The rectrices are narrower, with more pointed tips, and (especially on the central pair) the white tips and the black subterminal bar are reduced in size.

Molts

Little information, except for observations from El Salvador (Dickey and van Rossem 1938):

Definitive Basic plumage is acquired by a complete Prebasic molt. In El Salvador, the onset of this molt is variable, but the molt primarily is July-September.

Prealternate molt, which in El Salvador occurs in Feburary-March, is incomplete. The extent of this molt is not documented. The First Prealternate molt also is described as more extensive than the Definitive Prealternate molt.

Formative plumage is acquired by an incomplete Preformative molt. Juvenile (First Basic) rectrices and remiges are retained.

Juvenile (First Basic) plumage is retained for only a few weeks.

Bare Parts

Iris: Carmine red, dark red (Ridgway 1916, Haverschmidt 1968, Wetmore 1968).

The color of the bare orbital skin is geographically variable; generally, the eyering is yellowish green from Mexico south to northern and northwestern South America, and is red from northern South America, east of the Andes, south to south central South America. The eyering is yellowish green to light olive-green from Mexico south to northwestern South America west of the Andes (subspecies mexicana, thermophila, and nigricrissa; Ridgway 1916, Wetmore 1968, Howell and Webb 1995, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b, Schulenberg et al. 2007). The eyering color in northern Colombia and northwestern and northern Venezuela (subspecies mehleri, circe) apparently also is yellow (Restall et al. 2006), as it in Trindidad (insulana; ffrench 1991). From Venezuela south of the Orinoco, apparently south to the southern end of the distribution, the bare orbital skin is crimson (Haverschmidt 1968, Wetmore 1968, Belton 1984, Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b, Hilty 2003, Schulenberg et al. 2007).

Bill: Greenish yellow (Haverschmidt 1968)

Tarsi and toes: Bluish gray, lead gray (Ridgway 1916, Haverschmidt 1968)

Measurements

Total length: 40-46 cm (Wetmore 1968), 40.5-46 cm (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b), 40.5-50 cm (Howell and Webb 1995), 43 cm (Hilty and Brown 1986, Hilty 2003)

Linear measurements (mm) of Piaya cayana thermophila in Panama (Wetmore 1968)
   wing length  tail length        bill lengthtarsus length  n
     (culmen from base)  
 male mean  142.5  257   32.1  36.2  10
  range 138.2-147.8 237-279  30.5-34.1 33.7-37.5 
 female mean  140.0  253   31.6  35.8  10
  range 133.1-145.8 238-277  31.6 34.1-37.4 

Mass: male, mean 104.0 g (range 73.0-137.0, n=33, taxa not specified; Payne 2005); female, mean 100.3 g (range 76.0-129.4 g, n=28, taxa not specified; Payne 2005)

subspecies thermophila: males, mean 99.4 g (± 9.0 g, range 89.2-111 g, n=7; Belize, Russell 1964); female, 103 g (Belize, Russell 1964).

subspecies insulata: males, mean 92.8 g (range 90-95.5 g, n=2; Junge and Mees 1958); females, mean 97 g (range 94-100 g, n=2; Junge and Mees 1958).

nominate cayana: males, mean 95 g (range 84-103 g, n=10; Suriname, Haverschmidt and Mees 1994); females, mean 95 g (range 82-103 g, n=6; Suriname, Haverschmidt and Mees 1994)

subspecies macroura: male, 134 g (Brazil, Belton 1984); mean 112 g (range 110-115 g, n=4; Argentina, Fiora 1933)

Recommended Citation

Fitzgerald, J., T. S. Schulenberg, and G. F. Seeholzer (2011). Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.squcuc1.01