The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo (''Coccyzus vieilloti'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family

Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo and three other lizard cuckoos were for a time considered a single species. Individually they were previously placed in genus ''Saurothera'' that was later merged into the current ''Coccyzus'', and they are considered a superspecies. All four of them are found only on islands in the Caribbean. The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

. The species' specific epithet and the former English name "Vieilloti’s Ground Cuckoo" commemorate French ornithologist

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collec ...

Description

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is long, about half of which is the tail. It has a long decurved bill with a black

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

and a yellow

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

with a black tip. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have entirely gray-brown upperparts. Their throat and breast are gray and the belly and undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

tawny. The upper surface of their tail is gray-brown and the underside gray brown darkening to black near the large white tips. Their eye is surrounded by bare red skin. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash on the breast, less black on the underside of the tail, and an orange-red eye ring.

Distribution and habitat

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is found throughout the main island of Puerto Rico. It might have once resided on Isla Vieques, and a single specimen believed to be a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

was collected on St. Thomas in the

American Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

. It inhabits a variety of forested landscapes including semi-open woodlands, dense

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

, dry coastal forest, and swamp forest. It is also found in coffee plantations and brushy limestone hills. In elevation it is most common between sea level and but can be found almost to the highest peaks of the island.

Behavior

Movement

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo sits motionless for long periods and is more often heard than seen. It is non-migratory.

Feeding

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo mostly forages for prey from the middle to upper layers of the forest, though it also hunts in the understory and on the ground. It hunts by stealth, climbing along tree branches or walking on the ground. Its principal food is lizards (especially '' Anolis'') and also includes adult and laval insects, eggs, and occasionally frogs.

Breeding

Almost nothing is known about the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo's breeding phenology. Its nest is a loose platform made of sticks and placed in a tree or large bush. The clutch size is two or three eggs.

Vocalization

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo's principal call is " a harsh series of ''ka-ka-ka-ka'' notes." The call is described in more detail as "an emphatic ''ka-ka-ka-ka'' of long duration gradually accelerating and becoming louder, sometimes with altered syllables at the end". The species also makes other calls likened to those of jays, crows, ravens, and doves. A local name for the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is ''pájaro bobo mayor'', "big ape bird", apparently because it sounds like a monkey. It is also called ''pájaro de lluvia'' or ''pájaro de agua'' ("rain bird") in the belief that its call forecasts rain.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo as being of Least Concern. It has a somewhat restricted range and an estimated population of 2200 to 3000 mature individuals that is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. Its biology is very poorly known, and " productive information, ranging from breeding territoriality and behavior, to reproductive success, is almost non-existent."