Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo

Saurothera vieilloti

Pájaro Bobo Mayor,
Cuco Lagartero de Puerto Rico

Audio 4 (M. Oberle)

IDENTIFICATION: A large forest bird with a gray breast and rufous belly. It has a red eye ring, a long tail with prominent white spots underneath, and a long, relatively straight bill. Length: 43 cm.; weight: 77-80 g.

VOICE: The song is a rapid series of "caw" notes, commonly described as "cow cow, kuk krrk"; also makes a variety of low-pitched calls. Audio 4 (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Thickets, forests, and shade coffee plantations throughout the island.

HABITS: The Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, moves slowly through vines and thickets, foraging in the middle story and upper canopy for prey. It favors Puerto RicoÆs abundant lizards (perhaps 3/4 of its diet). In some forest areas of Puerto Rico, lizard densities have been documented at over 4,000 lizards per acre. The Lizard-Cuckoo also eats large spiders and insects, including cicadas, beetles, stick insects, and caterpillars. It often keeps its body still while it twists its neck at an odd angle to strike at prey. Although this cuckoo is a large, colorful bird, it is often difficult to see because of its slow movements in thick foliage. However, after rains, the bird will sometimes sit out in the open to dry off and preen. Its nest is a twig platform in a tree or bush and contains 2-3 blue eggs.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: Common in thickets, forests, limestone hills, and even urban neighborhoods with dense vegetation.

RANGE: The Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo is endemic to Puerto Rico. It formerly bred on Vieques, and possibly St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Typical locations to find this species are at the beginning of the Granados Trail in Guánica State Forest, on the trails at Guajataca, Cambalache, and Vega State Forests, or around the parking lot and entrance road to the El Portal visitor center on PR 191 in El Yunque.

TAXONOMY: CUCULIFORMES; CUCULIDAE; Coccyzinae. The genus of lizard-cuckoos, Saurothera, is found only in the Caribbean, with three other species found on other islands: Hispaniola (the Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo, Saurothera longirostris); Jamaica (the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo, Saurothera vetula); and Cuba plus some of the Bahama Islands (Great Lizard-Cuckoo, Saurothera merlini). The Puerto Rican, Hispaniolan and Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoos were formerly categorized as the same species.

References

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1998. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Spanish text

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