Striped Cuckoo - BirdForum Opus

Tapera naevia

Singing bird
Photo by Dave B Smith
La Hormiga, Venezuela, March 2005

Identification

27cm

• White supercilium
• Dark malar stripe
• Greyish-brown upperparts with black streaks
• Dull white underparts
• Black crest (raised in display)
• Long, graduated tail

Distribution

Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, [Peru]], Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• T. n. excellens:

• Tropical south-eastern Mexico to Panama

• T. n. naevia:

• Northern South America to Brazil, Argentina, Trinidad and Isla Margarita

Two additional subspecies, chochi and major are generally considered invalid^[1].

Habitat

Dry and cloud forests and forest edges, scrubby areas and marshes.

Behaviour

Breeding

It is a brood parasite mostly of spinetails and thornbirds. They lay 1 or 2 white or bluish eggs which hatch after 15 days, fledging 18 days later.

Diet

The diet includes large insects.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Striped Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Striped_Cuckoo

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