Systematics

At least four taxa have been described:

excellens Sclater 1857; Atlantic slope from southern Mexico south to central Panama

major Brodkorb 1940; Pacific slope from southern Mexico south to Nicaragua

naevia Linnaeus 1766; northern South America south to central Brazil

chochi Vieillot 1817; southern Brazil and northern Argentina

These subspecies were differentiated primarily on size, with northern populations generally smaller than nominate naevia, and southern chochi larger than naevia (and also differing in plumage). There is much overlap in measurements among these populations, however. Payne (1997) recognized only two subspecies, excellens (which presumably included major, although he did not mention the latter at all); and naevia (including chochi). Later, Payne (2005), considered the species to be monotypic, given the extent of overlap in measurements across the range of the species.

Sorenson and Payne (2005) divide the cuckoos into five subfamilies, two of which (Crotophaginae and Neomorphinae) are endemic to the New World and one of which is global in distribution (Cuculinae). The Striped Cuckoo, together with the two species of Dromococcyx, form a monophyletic clade (or, strictly speaking, a holophyletic group) of brood parasitic cuckoos within the Neomorphinae (Sorenson and Payne 2005).