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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




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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

Geographic range:

  • Piaya cayana: eastern Mexico to Paraguay, southeastern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina
  • Piaya cayana cayana: Río Orinoco Valley of Venezuela to the Guianas and northern Brazil
  • Piaya cayana mehleri: northeastern Colombia and coastal northern Venezuela eastward to Paría Peninsula
  • Piaya cayana mesura: Colombia east of the Andes and eastern Ecuador
  • Piaya cayana circe: western Venezuela (region south of Lake Maracaibo)
  • Piaya cayana insulana: Trinidad
  • Piaya cayana obscura: Brazil south of the Amazon River (Rio Juruá to Rio Tapajós)
  • Piaya cayana hellmayri: Brazil south of the Amazon River (Santarém to Amazon River delta)
  • Piaya cayana pallescens: eastern Brazil (Piauí, Pernambuco, northern Bahia, and adjacent eastern Goiás)
  • Piaya cayana cabanisi: south-central Brazil (central Mato Grosso and adjacent Goiás)
  • Piaya cayana macroura: southeastern Brazil to Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina
  • Piaya cayana mogenseni: southern Bolivia and adjacent northwestern Argentina
  • Piaya cayana thermophila: eastern Mexico (eastern San Luis Potosí and southern Tamaulipas southward to Veracruz, Yucatán, and Isthmus of Tehuantepec on Gulf coast southward to near Tehuantepec City) through Central America to Panama and northwestern Colombia
  • Piaya cayana nigricrissa: western Colombia (west slope of western Andes, the Cauca Valley, and the east slope of the northern central Andes), western Ecuador, and far northwestern Peru (Tumbes and Piura)
  • Show more...
Source: Clements checklist
English:
Common Squirrel Cuckoo
Afrikaans:
Gewone Eekhoringkoekoek
Bulgarian:
Ръждива кукувица
Catalan:
Cucut esquirol comú
Czech:
kukačka veverčí
Danish:
Egerngøg
German:
Eichhornkuckuck
Esperanto:
sciuro-kukolo
Spanish:
Cuco ardilla común
Spanish (Spain):
Cuco ardilla común
Estonian:
oravkägu (hallkõht-oravkägu)
Finnish:
oravakäki
French:
Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila ou nigricrissa]
Croatian:
sivotrba kukavica
Hungarian:
mókuskakukk
Icelandic:
Tófugaukur
Italian:
Cuculo scoiattolo
Japanese:
リスカッコウ
Lithuanian:
ilgauodegė piaja
Dutch:
Eekhoornkoekoek
Norwegian:
ekorngjøk
Polish:
rudzianka wielka
Portuguese:
alma-de-gato
Portuguese (Brazil):
alma-de-gato
Portuguese (Portugal):
cuco-miador-comum
Russian:
Беличья пиайя
Slovak:
kukavka krovinová
Serbian:
Veveričja kukavica
Swedish:
ekorrgök
Turkish:
Sincap Guguğu
Ukrainian:
піая велика
Chinese:
灰腹棕鹃
Chinese (Traditional):
灰腹棕鵑

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) [version 1]
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) [version 1]
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]
IOC World Bird Names, version 15.2:
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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Related taxa

Highlight taxa in a checklist (shown in red)

Other related concepts

Other synonyms

See also the taxonomic synonyms table.


Afrikaans: Gewone Eekhoringkoekoek
Bulgarian: Ръждива кукувица
Catalan: Cucut esquirol comú
Czech: kukačka veverčí
Danish: Egerngøg
German: Eichhornkuckuck
English: Common Squirrel Cuckoo, Common Squirrel-cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa]
English (Avilist): Common Squirrel-Cuckoo
English, HBW: Common Squirrel-cuckoo
English (IOC): Squirrel Cuckoo (Common Squirrel Cuckoo)
English (United States): Common Squirrel-Cuckoo
Esperanto: sciuro-kukolo
Spanish: Cuco ardilla Común
Spanish (Argentine): Tingazú
Spanish (Costa Rica): Cuco Ardilla Común
Spanish (Ecuador): Cuco Ardilla
Spanish (Spain): Cuco ardilla común
Spanish (Honduras): Pájaro León
Spanish (Mexico): Cuclillo Canelo
Spanish (Panama): Cuco Ardilla Común
Spanish (Peru): Cuco Ardilla
Spanish (Paraguay): Tingazú
Spanish (Uruguay): Pirincho de Monte
Spanish (Venezuela): Piscua
Estonian: oravkägu (hallkõht-oravkägu)
Finnish: oravakäki
French: Piaye écureuil, Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa], Piaye écureuil [cayana, thermophila ou nigricrissa]
Croatian: sivotrba kukavica
Hungarian: mókuskakukk
Icelandic: Tófugaukur
Italian: Cuculo scoiattolo
Japanese: リスカッコウ
Scientific: Cuculus cayanus, Piaya cayana, Piaya cayana [cayana, thermophila or nigricrissa], Piaya cayana cayana
Lithuanian: ilgauodegė piaja
Dutch: Eekhoornkoekoek
Norwegian: ekorngjøk
Polish: rudzianka wielka
Portuguese: alma-de-gato
Portuguese (Brazil): alma-de-gato
Portuguese (Portugal): cuco-miador-comum
Russian: Беличья пиайя
Slovak: kukavka krovinová
Serbian: Veveričja kukavica
Swedish: ekorrgök
Turkish: Sincap Guguğu
Ukrainian: піая велика
Chinese: 灰腹棕鹃
Chinese (Traditional): 灰腹棕鵑

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