{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana mesura) Sumaco.jpg | image_caption = ''Piaya cayana mesura'', Ecuador | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Piaya cayana'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T61418830A163878817 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T61418830A163878817.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Piaya cayana | authority = (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonyms = * ''Cuculus cayanus'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}} | range_map = Piaya cayana without mexicana map.svg }}
The '''common squirrel cuckoo''' ('''''Piaya cayana''''') is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad. The species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Mexican squirrel cuckoo (''Piaya mexicana'').
==Taxonomy== In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the common squirrel cuckoo in the fourth volume of his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. He used the French name ''Le coucou de Cayenne'' and the Latin name ''Cuculus cayanensis''.<ref name=brisson>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=4 | language=French, Latin | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=122-124, Plate 8 fig 2 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36195197 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the paragraph indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.<ref name=allen>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | url=https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/678}}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson in his ''Ornithologie''.<ref name=allen/> One of these was the common squirrel cuckoo. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name ''Cuculus cayanus'' and cited Brisson's work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | authorlink=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | page=170 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946366 }}</ref> The common squirrel cuckoo is now placed with the Mexican squirrel cuckoo and the black-bellied cuckoo in the genus ''Piaya'' that was introduced in 1830 by the French naturalist René Lesson.<ref name=avilist>{{ cite web | author=AviList Core Team | date=2025 | title=AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025 | doi=10.2173/avilist.v2025 | doi-access=free | url=http://www.avilist.org/checklist/v2025/ | access-date=27 April 2026 }}</ref>
This species' English name derives from its habit of running along branches and leaping from branch to branch like a squirrel. It normally flies only short distances, mainly gliding with an occasional flap.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last=Payne | first=R.B. | year=1997 | chapter=Family Cuculidaee (Cuckoos) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-22-1 | pages=508-603 [601] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0004unse/page/601/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>
Thirteen subspecies are recognised:<ref name=avilist/> * ''P. c. thermophila'' Sclater, PL, 1860 – eastern Mexico to eastern Panama and northwestern Colombia and offshore islands * ''P. c. nigricrissa'' (Cabanis, JL, 1862) – western Colombia (west slope of western Andes, the Cauca Valley, and the east slope of the northern central Andes), western Ecuador, and far northwestern Peru (Tumbes and Piura province) * ''P. c. mehleri'' Bonaparte, CLJL, 1850 – northeastern Colombia and coastal northern Venezuela eastward to Paría Peninsula * ''P. c. mesura'' (Cabanis, JL & Heine, F, 1863) – Colombia east of the Andes and eastern Ecuador * ''P. c. circe'' Bonaparte, CLJL, 1850 – western Venezuela (region south of Lake Maracaibo) * ''P. c. cayana'' (Linnaeus, C, 1766) – Río Orinoco Valley of Venezuela to the Guianas and northern Brazil * ''P. c. insulana'' Hellmayr, CE, 1906 – Trinidad * ''P. c. obscura'' Snethlage, E, 1908 – Brazil south of the Amazon River (Rio Juruá to Rio Tapajós) * ''P. c. hellmayri'' Pinto, OMO, 1938 – Brazil south of the Amazon River (Santarém to Amazon River delta) * ''P. c. pallescens'' (Cabanis, JL & Heine, F, 1863) – eastern Brazil (Piauí, Pernambuco, northern Bahia, and adjacent eastern Goiás) * ''P. c. cabanisi'' Allen, JA, 1893 – south-central Brazil (central Mato Grosso and adjacent Goiás) * ''P. c. macroura'' Gambel, W, 1849 – southeastern Brazil to Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina * ''P. c. mogenseni'' Peters, JL, 1926 – southern Bolivia and adjacent northwestern Argentina
==Description== This large and extremely long-tailed cuckoo is {{convert|40.5|-|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|95|-|120|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Oiseaux/> The adult has mainly chestnut upperparts and head, becoming paler on the throat. The lower breast is grey and the belly is blackish. The central tail feathers are rufous, but the outer are black with white tips. The bill is yellow and the iris is red. Immature birds have a grey bill and eyering, brown iris, and less white in the tail. It resembles the little cuckoo, but that species is smaller and has a darker throat.
There are a number of subspecies with minor plumage variations. For example, ''P. c. mehleri'', one of the South American subspecies, has mainly brown (not black) outer tail feathers. Additionally, the subspecies from Mexico, Central America, and northern and western South America have a yellow eye-ring, but this is red in the remaining part of South America.
It makes explosive {{not a typo|''kip!''}} and {{not a typo|''kip! weeuu''}} calls, and the song is a whistled {{not a typo|''wheep wheep wheep wheep''}}. <gallery mode = packed heights = 160px> Squirrel cuckoo (02988).jpg|in Costa Rica Flickr_-_Dario_Sanches_-_ALMA-DE-GATO_(Piaya_cayana).jpg|in Brazil </gallery>
==Distribution and habitat== thumb|right|Squirrel cuckoo with a large caterpillar. Note the yellow eye-ring (the eye itself is reddish), typical of the subspecies from Mexico, Central America, and northern and western South America The common squirrel cuckoo is found in woodland canopy and edges, second growth, hedges and semi-open habitats from sea level to as high as {{cvt|2500|m|ft}}, although it is uncommon above {{cvt|1200|m|ft}}.
==Behaviour== ===Food and feeding=== It feeds on large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars (including those with stinging hairs or spines), and occasionally spiders, small amphibians and reptiles,<ref>{{cite web|title=''Piaya cayana'' (Squirrel Cuckoo or Coucou Manioc)|website=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago|publisher=UWI |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Piaya_cayana%20-%20Squirrel%20Cuckoo%20or%20Coucou%20Manioc.pdf}}</ref> such as small lizards, rarely taking fruit.<ref>e.g. of ''Trophis racemosa'' (Moraceae).</ref> Its non-flying prey is typically taken off the foliage with a quick lunge, but wasps may be caught on the wing. Squirrel cuckoos are often observed to forage peacefully alongside small mammals such as common marmosets (''Callithrix jacchus'') during the dry season for cocoa beans. In particular, they can be seen to attend army ant columns together, picking off prey flushed by the ants, and occasionally will join mixed-species feeding flocks.<ref name=Machado/><ref name=Lyra/><ref name= Foster/>
===Breeding=== The nest is a shallow platform of leaves on a twig foundation, hidden in dense vegetation {{convert|1|-|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} high in a tree. The female lays two or three chalky white eggs which are {{cvt|35|x|26|mm}} in size. The eggs are incubated by both sexes for around 18 days. The young are fed insects by both parents and leave the nest after 8 days, before they can fly. Several broods are raised each year.<ref name=hbw/>
==Conservation status== The squirrel cuckoo is plentiful in most of its range and appears to be quite tolerant of human disturbance, as long as woodland remains.<ref name=Foster/> Compared to many cuckoos in the world, it is relatively bold and conspicuous, although it is most often encountered skulking about within vegetation. Owing to its wide range, it is considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
== References == {{Reflist|refs= * <ref name=Lyra>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S0101-81752007000300022| title = Comportamentos interespecíficos entre ''Callithrix jacchus'' (Linnaeus) (Primates, Callitrichidae) e algumas aves de Mata Atlântica, Pernambuco, Brasil|trans-title=Interspecific behaviour between ''Callithrix jacchus'' (Linnaeus) (Callitrichidae, Primates) and some birds of the Atlantic forest, Pernanbuco State, Brazil| journal = Revista Brasileira de Zoologia| volume = 24| issue = 3| page = 709| year = 2007| last1 = Lyra-Neves | first1 = R. M. D. | last2 = Oliveira | first2 = M. A. B. | last3 = Telino-Júnior | first3 = W. R. | last4 = Santos | first4 = E. M. D. | doi-access = free}}</ref> * <ref name= Foster>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0959270906000554| title = The potential of fruit trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico| journal = Bird Conservation International| volume = 17| pages = 45–61| year = 2007| last1 = Foster | first1 = M. S. | doi-access = free| bibcode = 2007BirCI..17...45F}}</ref> * <ref name=Machado>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S0034-71081999000100010| title = A composição dos bandos mistos de aves na Mata Atlântica da Serra de Paranapiacaba, no sudeste brasileiro |trans-title=Mixed flocks of birds in Atlantic Rain Forest in Serra de Paranapiacaba, southeastern Brazil| journal = Revista Brasileira de Biologia| volume = 59| pages = 75–85 | year = 1999| last1 = Machado | first1 = C. G.| doi-access = free}}</ref> * <ref name=Oiseaux>{{cite web |url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-squirrel-cuckoo.html |title=Squirrel Cuckoo |website=Oiseaux-birds.com |access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> }}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1 = ffrench<!--this name should not be capitalized--> |first1 = Richard |last2=O'Neill |first2=John Patton |last3=Eckelberry |first3=Don R.|title=A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago |edition = 2nd |year = 1991 |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |publisher = Comstock Publishing |isbn = 978-0-8014-9792-6 }} * {{cite book |last=Hilty |first=Steven L. |date=2003 |title=Birds of Venezuela |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-7136-6418-8 }} * {{cite book |last1=Stiles |first1=F. Gary |last2=Skutch |first2=Alexander F. |date=1989 |title=A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica |publisher=Comstock Publishing Associates |isbn=978-0-8014-9600-4 }}
==External links== {{Commons category|Piaya cayana}} {{Wikispecies|Piaya cayana}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|squirrel-cuckoo-piaya-cayana|Squirrel cuckoo}} * {{VIREO|Squirrel+Cuckoo}} * {{NeotropicalBirds|squcuc1|Squirrel cuckoo}} * {{IUCN_Map|61418830/163878817|Piaya cayana}}
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Category:Piaya Category:Birds of Central America Category:Birds of South America Category:Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Category:Birds described in 1766 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus