Piaya

Taxobox
name = " Piaya "


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Squirrel Cuckoo
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Cuculiformes
familia = Cuculidae
genus = " Piaya "
genus_authority = Lesson, 1830
subdivision_ranks = species
subdivision = "P.cayana"
"P. melanogaster"
"P. minuta"

"Piaya" is a small genus of cuckoos which occur in tropical Central and northern South America. The three species in taxonomic order are:

* Squirrel Cuckoo, "Piaya cayana"
* Black-bellied Cuckoo, "Piaya melanogaster"
* Little Cuckoo, "Piaya minuta"These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. They occur in forests or mangroves. "Piaya" cuckoos, unlike many Old World species, are not brood parasites; they build their own nests in trees and lay two eggs. Parasitic cuckoos lay coloured eggs to match those of their passerine hosts, but the non-parasitic "Piaya" species, like most other non-passerines, lay white eggs.

These are vocal species with persistent and loud calls. They feed on large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars (including those with stinging hairs or spines which are distasteful to many birds). Squirrel and Black-bellied Cuckoos are large and powerful species, and occasionally take vertebrate prey such as small lizards.

References

*cite book
last = ffrench
first = Richard
title = A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
edition = 2nd edition
year = 1991
publisher = Comstock Publishing
isbn = 0-8014-9792-2
*cite book
last = Hilty
first = Steven L
title = Birds of Venezuela
publisher = Christopher Helm
date = 2003
location = London
isbn = 0-7136-6418-5
* Stiles and Skutch, "A guide to the birds of Costa Rica" ISBN 0-8014-9600-4