Coccyzus
Encyclopedia
Coccyzus is a genus
of cuckoo
s which occur in the Americas
.
The genera Saurothera (the lizard cuckoos) and Hyetornis (Chestnut-bellied and Bay-breasted Cuckoos) were lumped with Coccyzus by the American Ornithologists' Union
in 2006.
On the other hand, the Ash-colored Cuckoo and Dwarf Cuckoo
– at one time separated in Micrococcyx – have been found to be closest relatives of the Little Cuckoo
, formerly in Piaya
. These three are now again placed in the reinstated genus of the latter, Coccycua
.
s are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. Many have black and white undertail patterns. They occur in a variety of forests, woodlands or mangrove
s.
Coccyzus cuckoos, unlike many Old World
species, build their own nests in trees and lay two or more eggs. Yellow-billed
and Black-billed Cuckoo
s occasionally lay egg
s in the nests of other birds, but are not obligate brood parasite
s like the Common Cuckoo
of Eurasia.
Northern species such as Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos are strong migrants
, wintering in Central
or South America
, and occasionally wander to western Europe
as rare vagrants, but the tropical Coccyzus cuckoos are mainly sedentary.
These are vocal species when breeding, with persistent and loud calls. They feed on large insect
s such as cicada
s, wasp
s and caterpillar
s (including those with stinging hairs or spines which are distasteful to many birds). Lizard cuckoos are large and powerful species, and mainly take vertebrate
prey, especially, as the name implies, lizard
s.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
s which occur in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
Species and taxonomy
The species in taxonomic order are:- Black-billed CuckooBlack-billed CuckooThe Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus, is a cuckoo.Adults have a long brown tail and a black bill. The head and upper parts are brown and the underparts are white. There is a red ring around the eye. Juveniles are drabber, and the eye ring is greenish.Their breeding habitat is edges of...
, Coccyzus erythropthalmus - Yellow-billed CuckooYellow-billed CuckooThe Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are Rain Crow and Storm Crow...
, Coccyzus americanus - Pearly-breasted CuckooPearly-breasted CuckooThe Pearly-breasted Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, and Venezuela....
, Coccyzus euleri - Mangrove CuckooMangrove CuckooThe Mangrove Cuckoo, Coccyzus minor, is a species of cuckoo that is native to the Neotropics.Adults have a long tail, brown above and black-and-white below, and a black curved bill with yellow on the lower mandible. The head and upper parts are brown. There is a yellow ring around the eye...
Coccyzus minor - Cocos CuckooCocos CuckooThe Cocos Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is endemic to Cocos Island, an Island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of Costa Rica....
, Coccyzus ferrugineus - Dark-billed CuckooDark-billed CuckooThe Dark-billed Cuckoo is a species of bird in the Cuculidae family, the cuckoos.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela...
, Coccyzus melacoryphus - Gray-capped Cuckoo, Coccyzus lansbergi
- Chestnut-bellied CuckooChestnut-bellied CuckooThe Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. The monotypic genus Hyetornis was dissolved by the American Ornithologists' Union, but this is not universally accepted. It is endemic to Jamaica...
, Coccyzus pluvialis - Bay-breasted CuckooBay-breasted CuckooThe Bay-breasted Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo that is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. It has a length of roughly . C. rufigularis possesses a curved bill, a burnt reddish throat and breast, a black tail, and white-tipped retrices. In the Dominican Republic, it is known...
, Coccyzus rufigularis - Great Lizard Cuckoo, Coccyzus merlini
- Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo, Coccyzus vieilloti
- Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo, Coccyzus vetula
- Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo, Coccyzus longirostris
The genera Saurothera (the lizard cuckoos) and Hyetornis (Chestnut-bellied and Bay-breasted Cuckoos) were lumped with Coccyzus by the American Ornithologists' Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
in 2006.
On the other hand, the Ash-colored Cuckoo and Dwarf Cuckoo
Dwarf Cuckoo
The Dwarf Cuckoo is a tropical American bird species of the cuckoo family .It was formerly placed in the genus Coccyzus or Micrococcyx. Following the discovery that it belongs to a distinct lineage around the Little Cuckoo, the genus Coccycua has been reinstated for these.It is found in Brazil,...
– at one time separated in Micrococcyx – have been found to be closest relatives of the Little Cuckoo
Little Cuckoo
The Little Cuckoo is a species of bird in the cuckoo family from South America and Panama. It was formerly placed in the genus Piaya but a monotypic genus Coccycua was once erected for it...
, formerly in Piaya
Piaya
Piaya is a small genus of relatively large and long-tailed cuckoos, which occur in Mexico, Central America and South America. The two species in taxonomic order are:* Squirrel Cuckoo, Piaya cayana* Black-bellied Cuckoo, Piaya melanogaster...
. These three are now again placed in the reinstated genus of the latter, Coccycua
Coccycua
Coccycua is a small genus of birds in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. Its three species are found in the tropical Americas.Formerly, they were divided among in Coccyza and Piaya , or the former were assigned to Micrococcyx and only the latter to Coccycua...
.
Description and ecology
These birdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. Many have black and white undertail patterns. They occur in a variety of forests, woodlands or mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s.
Coccyzus cuckoos, unlike many Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
species, build their own nests in trees and lay two or more eggs. Yellow-billed
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are Rain Crow and Storm Crow...
and Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
The Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythropthalmus, is a cuckoo.Adults have a long brown tail and a black bill. The head and upper parts are brown and the underparts are white. There is a red ring around the eye. Juveniles are drabber, and the eye ring is greenish.Their breeding habitat is edges of...
s occasionally lay egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s in the nests of other birds, but are not obligate brood parasite
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
s like the Common Cuckoo
Common Cuckoo
The Common Cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals....
of Eurasia.
Northern species such as Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos are strong migrants
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering in Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
or South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, and occasionally wander to western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as rare vagrants, but the tropical Coccyzus cuckoos are mainly sedentary.
These are vocal species when breeding, with persistent and loud calls. They feed on large insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s such as cicada
Cicada
A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha , in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many of them remain unclassified...
s, wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
s and caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s (including those with stinging hairs or spines which are distasteful to many birds). Lizard cuckoos are large and powerful species, and mainly take vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
prey, especially, as the name implies, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s.