Piaya
| Piaya | |
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| Genus: | Piaya Lesson, 1830
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P.cayana | |
Piaya is a small genus of cuckoos which occur in tropical Central and northern South America. The three species in taxonomic order are:
- Squirrel Cuckoo, Piaya cayana
- Black-bellied Cuckoo, Piaya melanogaster
- Little Cuckoo, Piaya minuta
These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. They occur in forests 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
- ffrench, Birds of Trinidad and Tobago ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
- Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-0814-9600-4