Alternative Name(s): Cuban Lizard Cuckoo
- Coccyzus merlini
"Saurothera merlini"
Identification
54cm.
- Olive-brown upperparts with rufous primaries
- Light grey breast
- Rufous belly
- Long grey tail with black subterminal band and broad white tips, all grey central rectrices
- Red bare skin around eye
- Grey to brown eye
- Long straight bill, blackish above and paler below
Variation
- bahamensis without rufous on primaries
- decolor with greyish brown upperparts
- santamariae with longer bill
Distribution
Cuba and the Bahamas.
Common to fairly common in its small range.
Used in traditional medicine for restoration of sexual powers and claimed effectiveness in convalescence.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies are recognized:
- C. m. bahamansis on the Bahamas (Andros, and Eleuthera, at least formerly New Providence)
- C. m. merlini in Cuba
- C. m. santamariae on islands off north-central Cuba
- C. m. decolor on Isle of Pines
Some authorities place this species in genus Saurothera.
Habitat
Wooded to bushy areas
Behaviour
A rather tame species.
Diet
Feeds on lizards and locusts.
May look for food both in trees and bushes and on the ground, where it will then walk or run with the tail held erect.
Breeding
The nest is a shallow saucer made of twigs and placed in a tree. Lays 2 to 3 eggs.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334221
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Great Lizard Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Great_Lizard_Cuckoo
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
