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

Systematics

Geographic Variation

Many subspecies of Piaya cayana have been described; fourteen subspecies currently are recognized (Payne 2005). Subspecies designations are based on differences in size and in plumage color; the extent to which they correspond with differences in eyering color (see Bare Parts) sometimes is not clear. A modern, comprehensive review of geographic variation in Piaya cayana across multiple characters, including a genetic perspective, is overdue. The following outline of subspecies distributions and characters is based on Peters (1940) and Payne (2005):

thermophila Sclater 1859; type locality Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico                                         Occurs on the Gulf and Atlantic slopes from Mexico south to Panama and northwestern Colombia                                                                                                   Relatively dark rufous-chestnut above; belly and undertail coverts dark gray to black; underside of rectrices black, white tips to rectrices relatively narrow.

mexicana (Swainson 1827); type locality Temescaltepec, Mexico                                Occurs on the Pacific slope of Mexico, south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec                    Paler rufous-chestnut above; underside of rectrices rufous, with black subterminal bars and broad white tips.

nigricrissa  (Cabanis 1862); type locality Babahoyo or Esmeraldas, Ecuador                    Occurs in western Colombia (east to the slopes of the central Andes), south of northwestern Peru                                                                                                                  Similar to thermophila, but plumage darker; belly and undertail coverts blackish.

mehleri Bonaparte 1850; type locality Santa Fé de Bogota (the same type locality as mesura?!)                                                                                                                                Occurs in northeastern Colombia, from the Gulf of Urabá to the Magdalena valley and the west slope of the eastern Andes, east along the coast of northern Venezuela to the Paria Peninsula                                                                                                                            More rufous than mexicana, with a lighter throat and breast that grade to light gray on the belly; underside of rectrices rufous.

mesura (Cabanis and Heine 1863); type locality Bogotá, Colombia                                    Occurs in eastern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru                                                                  Similar in plumage to nigricrissa; smaller, but with overlap in size.

circe Bonaparte 1850; type locality Caracas, Venezuela                                                Occurs in Venezuela, south of Lake Maracaibo                                                         Upperparts slightly more rufous than mehleri, but paler than nominate cayana.

cayana (Linné 1766); type locality Cayenne                                                               Widespread, from eastern and southern Venezuela east through the Guyanas, south to Brazil to the north bank of the lower Amazon                                                                      Belly ashy gray; undertail coverts darker gray; colors otherwise similar to thermophila except that the belly and undertail coverts are not as dark; underside of rectrices black with white tips.

insulana Hellmayr 1906; type locality Chaguaranas, Trinidad                                  Trinidad                                                                                                                                 Similar to cayana, but undertail coverts black.

obscura Snethlage 1908; type locality Bom Lugar and Monte Verde, upper Rio Purús, Brazil                                                                                                                                        Occurs from central Peru south to northern Bolivia, and east to central Brazil south of the Amazon, from the Rio Juruá east to the Rio Tapajóz                                                     Darker (less rufous) above; undertail coverts black.

hellmayri Pinto 1937; type locality Tury-assú, Maranhão                                                   Occurs from the lower Rio Tapajoz east to the mouth of the Amazon and the coast of Maranhão                                                                                                                                Upperparts more tan (less rufous) in color.

pallescens (Cabanis and Heine 1863); type locality Bahia                                                    Occurs in eastern Brazil                                                                                                          Upperparts paler, more tan.

cabanisi Allen 1893; type locality Chapada, Mato Grosso                                                    Occurs in south central Brazil, from Mato Grosso east to Goiás and south to São Paulo  More rufous; throat rusty; belly and undertail coverts pale

macroura Gambel 1849; type locality Paraguay                                                            Occurs in eastern Brazil (Bahia) south to Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay                                                                                                                      Upperparts dark; belly and undertail coverts blackish.

mogenseni Peters 1926; type locality Concepción, Tucumán, Argentina                            Occurs from southern Bolivia (Santa Cruz) to northwestern Argentina                             Upperparts lighter rufous; throat rusty; underparts dark gray (not blackish).

Most subspecies presumably intergrade where ranges abut. In southern Mexico, however, Binford (1989: 128) reported a few specimens intermediate between thermophila and mexicana, but noted that the "abruptness and apparent rarity of intergradation suggest that these two forms might be separate species.

Subspecies


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Piaya cayana mexicana


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Piaya cayana thermophila


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Piaya cayana nigricrissa


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Piaya cayana [cayana Group]

Related Species

Sorenson and Payne (2005) divide the cuckoos into five subfamilies, based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Piaya falls in the subfamily Cuculinae, which is global in distribution. The sister genus to Piaya is the Neotropical genus Coccyzus. Traditionally Piaya contained three species, but Sorenson and Payne (2005) demonstrated that the Little Cuckoo forms a clade with two species formerly included in Coccyzus; these three species now constitute the genus Coccycua. Consequently, Piaya contains only two species, cayana and the Black-bellied Cuckoo Piaya melanogaster.

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