Birdfinding.info ⇒ A common species that is readily encountered throughout its range, including all the frequently visited sites in the D.R. It can often be found at the National Botanical Garden in Santo Domingo, and in the vicinity of the major seaside resorts.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo
Coccyzus longirostris
Endemic to Hispaniola and its satellites (Gonâve, Tortue, Beata, Catalina, and Saona), where it is widely distributed in wooded and semiopen habitats, from suburban gardens and brushland to forests.
Identification
Unmistakable in most of its range: a large, lanky, long-tailed, long-billed cuckoo.
Its long, nearly straight bill, scarlet orbital skin, cinnamon-buffy throat and belly, ashy upperparts and breast, and chestnut wing patches all distinguish it from the other cuckoos regularly found in its range.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (La Placa, Dominican Republic; April 3, 2017.) © Robert Lewis
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Dominican Republic; January 6, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Dominican Republic; December 5, 2015.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Dominican Republic; December 5, 2015.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Lomas Lindas, Dominican Republic; July 15, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Lomas Lindas, Dominican Republic; July 15, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Dominican Republic; October 12, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Dominican Republic; July 13, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; April 29, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (National Botanical Garden, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; March 8, 2015.) © John Sullivan
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; June 2, 2015.) © Dax M. Román E.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of two recognized subspecies: longirostris and petersi (Gonâve). The lizard-cuckoos were formerly placed in their own genus, Saurothera.
References
eBird. 2018. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed December 26, 2018.)
Erritzøe, J., C.F. Mann, F.P. Brammer, and R.A. Fuller. 2012. Cuckoos of the World. Christopher Helm, London.
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.