Black-bellied cuckoo

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Black-bellied cuckoo
at Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso State, Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Piaya
Species:
P. melanogaster
Binomial name
Piaya melanogaster
(Vieillot, 1817)

The black-bellied cuckoo or black-bellied squirrel cuckoo (Piaya melanogaster) is a bird of the family Cuculidae found in the Amazon region.[2][3][4] Even though this species has a wide distribution, little is known about its ecology and natural history.[4] The word melanogaster means "black belly"; it has Greek roots, melas meaning "black" and gaster meaning "belly".[5]

Description

The average length of adults is between 38 and 40.5 cm. The beak is of an intense purple/red color, the iris is dark red with a blue orbital skin and one yellow mole at the anterior side of each eye. The head is grey and contrasts with the ruffled back. The throat and chest are brown-reddish, cinnamon color and the belly and undertail coverts are black. The tail is black with conspicuous white stripes.[2] The juveniles resemble adults.[6]

P. melanogaster occurs within the range of the similar squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana).[7] Black-bellied cuckoos are distinguished by a dark face and grey crown.[2]The squirrel cuckoo has exposed yellow-greenish skin in the orbital area, the chest plumage is grey and it lacks the characteristic hood of the black-bellied cuckoo.[8]

Song

Their characteristic song is "dyerií-dyu, dyerií-dyu, dyerií-dyu…" sometimes repeated for a few minutes. It is often difficult to trace their position as they typically remain motionless in the forest when singing. They also produce faint grunts.[2]

Phylogeny

The genus Playa is considered paraphyletic. The little cuckoo was formerly considered a third member of the genus but has now been placed in the Coccycua.[5]

Distribution

P. melanogaster is an infrequent species with an Amazonian distribution; it can be found in the upper parts of tropical rainforests and occasionally in savanna forests.[9] Its preferred altitude is up to 800 meters above sea level. Is a native species of southern and eastern Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, eastern Venezuela, Northern Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, eastern Perú and Brazil. Its distribution occupies 4 840 000 square kilometers approximately. It is not a migratory bird, it is a permanent resident of its range.[3][6]

In Guyana, the black-bellied cuckoo can be found in Kanashen community, COCA.[10] In Bolivia it can be found in the department of La Paz.[11] In Colombia it is found from the south of La Meta, northwest of Guainía and southern Vaupés (eastern Andes section) and below 500 meters above the sea level.[8]

In Ecuador it is found below 400 meter above sea level, is not a frequently seen species and is local in forest canopy of firm land in the eastern lowlands.[2]

In Brasil this cuckoo is found in the Alta Floresta region at the north of Mato Grosso, in southeastern Amazonia.[12]

Population status

This species has a wide distribution range, it is not inside the Vulnerable status because it doesn't match its criteria (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size of P. melanogaster has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Until 1994 P. melanogaster was in the Lower Risk/ Least Concern (LR/LC) category, nowadays it is in the Least Concern (LC) category.[3]

Habitat

P. melanogaster lives in tropical rainforests, humid forests of firm land, scrub and occasionally in wooded savannas.[8] Individuals do not frequent open areas, like P. cayana does. The black-bellied cuckoo stays at upper levels of the forest.[2] It is known that this species loses between 9.8 and 10.8% of suitable habitat within its range of distribution every three generations (13 years approximately).[3]

Behavior

P. melanogaster prefers forest canopies but can be seen in tall shrubs, climbing through vine, jumping between branches or running between them to fly in open spaces of the forest; their wing beats are slow and shallow. Individuals are usually by themselves or with their couple.[8]

Reproduction

The reproductive cycle of P. melanogaster is unknown. There are records of individuals in reproductive condition during the month of April in the Upper Orinoco in Venezuela, and of youth being fed during the month of July in French Guiana. The eggs are pure white.[8] Their generational time is 4.2 years.[3] Piaya species, unlike Old World cuckoos, are not brood parasites; these species build their own nests in trees and can lay up to 2 eggs.[13]

There are reports of two nests (one on an island and the other near a river) with chicks being fed in French Guiana between the months of August and November.[14]

Feeding

Their diet is based on large insects such as beetles, cycads, grasshoppers, ants and caterpillars (even those with sharp heirs that normally serve as protection from being preyed by birds). This species feeds in the forest canopy.[6][8][14] This cuckoo, being a powerful bird, can also prey on small vertebrates like lizards.[13]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Piaya melanogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22684376A130095914. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22684376A130095914.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Ridgely, Robert; Greenfield, Peter (2006). "Aves del Ecuador: Guía de Campo. Volumen II". Quito: Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco.
  3. ^ a b c d e BirdLife International (2012). "Playa melanogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b Bernis, F; de Juana, E; del Hoyo, J (1998). "Nombres en castellano de las aves del mundo recomendados por la SEO (4ª parte p. 94)" (PDF). Ardeola. Vol. 45, no. 1.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c "Black-bellied Cuckoo (Piaya melanogaster) » Planet of Birds". Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Overview - Black-bellied Cuckoo (Piaya melanogaster) - Neotropical Birds". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Wiki Aves de Colombia – Universidad Icesi – Cali, Colombia | Cuco Buchinegro - Piaya melanogaster". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Overview - Black-bellied Cuckoo (Piaya melanogaster) - Neotropical Birds". neotropical.birds.cornell.edu. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  10. ^ O'Shea, B.j. "Preliminary Bird Species Checklist of the Konashen COCA, Southern Guyana".
  11. ^ Remsen, J; Parker, T (1995). "Bolivia has the opportunity to create the planet's richest park for terrestrial biota". Bird Conservation International. Vol. 5, no. 2–3. pp. 181–199.
  12. ^ Whitney, B. "Birding the Alta Floresta region, northerns Mato Grosso, Brazil". Cotinga. Vol. 7. pp. 64–68.
  13. ^ a b "Piaya (genus of cuckoos)". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Black-bellied Cuckoo (Playa melanogaster)". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
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