Piaya
| Piaya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Piaya Lesson, 1830 |
| Type species | |
| Cuculus cayanus[1] Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Species | |
Piaya is a small genus of relatively large and long-tailed cuckoos, which occur in Mexico, Central America and South America.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Piaya was introduced in 1830 by the French naturalist René Lesson with the type species as Cuculus cayanus Linnaeus 1766, the common squirrel cuckoo.[2][3] The genus name is from the Cayenne Creole name Piaye, the devil bird, for the common squirrel cuckoo.[4]
Species
[edit]The genus contains three species:[5]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Common squirrel cuckoo | Piaya cayana |  |
 | Mexican squirrel cuckoo | Piaya mexicana | Pacific slope of Mexico (Sinaloa to Isthmus of Tehuántepec) |
.jpg) | Black-bellied cuckoo | Piaya melanogaster |  |
The little cuckoo has been found to be closer to some species traditionally placed in Coccyzus or Micrococcyx. These are now again separated in Coccycua.
Description and ecology
[edit]These birds are birds with relatively slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. The black-bellied cuckoo is essentially restricted to rainforest, but the more widespread squirrel cuckoo also occurs in other forest types, woodlands or mangroves.
Piaya cuckoos, unlike many Old World species, are not brood parasites; they build their own nests in trees and lay two eggs. Parasitic cuckoos lay coloured eggs to match those of their passerine hosts, but the non-parasitic Piaya species, like most other non-passerines, lay white eggs.
These are vocal species with persistent and loud calls. They feed on large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars (including those with stinging hairs or spines which are distasteful to many birds). Squirrel and black-bellied cuckoos are large and powerful species, and occasionally take vertebrate prey such as small lizards.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Cuculidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
- ↑ Lesson, René (1830). Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique (in French). Paris: F.G. Levrault. pp. 139–140, livraison 2. Published in 8 livraisons (parts) between 1830 and 1831. For the publication date see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
- ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 44.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "Piaya". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ↑ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
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