Common Squirrel Cuckoo
Piaya cayana (Linnaeus, C 1766)
The squirrel cuckoo is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad. Some authorities have split off the western Mexican form as the Mexican squirrel-cuckoo. Source: Wikipedia
Classification
Order:Cuculiformes
Family:
Cuculidae
Genus:
Piaya
Scientific:
Piaya cayana
Original description
Citation:
(Linnaeus, C 1766)
Reference:
Systema Naturae ed. 12, vol. 1, part 1
Protonym:
Cuculus cayanus
Type locality:
Cayenne.
Link:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137337#page/174/mode/1up
Avibase identifiers
Avibase ID:
F549E115E0ABD9B0
Avibase ID:
avibase-F549E115
Short link:
https://avibase.ca/F549E115
Taxonomic Serial Number:
TSN: 554785
Common Squirrel Cuckoo
Catalan:
Cucut esquirol comú
German:
Eichhornkuckuck
Spanish:
Cuco ardilla común
French:
Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila ou nigricrissa]
Italian:
Cuculo scoiattolo
Slovak:
kukavka krovinová
Authorities recognizing this taxonomic concept:
| American Ornithologists' Society 7th edition (incl. 66th suppl.): Common Squirrel-Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts (current): Common Squirrel Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 2023 (May 2023): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 2024 (Oct 2024): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 2025 (Nov 2025): Common Squirrel Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 03 (March 2015): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 04 (Aug 2016): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 05 (Jan 2017): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 06 (Feb 2018): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 07 (Feb 2020): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avibase taxonomic concepts v. 08 (Feb 2021): Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa] ( Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]) |
| Avilist 2025: Common Squirrel Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Birdlife checklist version 07 (Jul 2014): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Birdlife checklist version 08 (Oct 2015): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Birdlife checklist version 09 (Dec 2016): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Birdlife checklist version 09.1 (Jun 2017): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v2 (Dec 2017): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v3 (Nov 2018): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v4 (Dec 2019): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v5 (Dec 2020): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v6 (Dec 2021): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v6b (Jul 2022): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v7 (Dec 2022): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v8 (Dec 2023): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v9 (Oct 2024): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v10 (Oct 2025): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) |
| Clements, version 2025: Common Squirrel-Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| eBird version 2025: Common Squirrel-Cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (31/01/2015): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (03/07/2017): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Handbook of the Birds of the World and Birdlife (Dec 2017): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
| Handbook of the Birds of the World and Birdlife (Dec 2018): Common Squirrel-cuckoo ( Piaya cayana) [version 1] |
Taxonomic status:
Species status: full species (sometimes nominal subspecies)
This taxon is considered a subspecies of
Piaya [cayana or mexicana]
(sensu lato) by some authors
Your sightings
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Other synonyms
See also the taxonomic synonyms table.
Catalan: Cucut esquirol comú
German: Eichhornkuckuck
English: Common Squirrel Cuckoo, Common Squirrel-cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]
Spanish: Cuco ardilla Común
French: Piaye écureuil, Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa], Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila ou nigricrissa]
Italian: Cuculo scoiattolo
Scientific: Cuculus cayanus, Piaya cayana, Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa], Piaya cayana cayana
Slovak: kukavka krovinová
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