Striped Cuckoo

Photo by Stanley Jones
West of Río Marañón, Peru, January, 2017

Tapera naevia

Identification

26–30 cm (10¼-11¾ in)

• White supercilium
• Dark malar stripe
• Greyish-brown upperparts with black streaks
• Dull white underparts
• Black crest (raised in display)
• Long, graduated tail

Sexes similar.

Distribution

Juvenile
Photo by DABS
Trincity, Trinidad, September 2016

Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• T. n. excellens:

• Tropical south-eastern Mexico to Panama

• T. n. naevia:

• Northern South America to Brazil, Argentina, Trinidad and Isla Margarita

Two additional subspecies, chochi and major are generally considered invalid^[1].

Habitat

Dry and cloud forests and forest edges, scrubby areas and marshes.

Behaviour

Breeding

It is a brood parasite mostly of spinetails and thornbirds. They lay 1 or 2 white or bluish eggs which hatch after 15 days, fledging 18 days later.

Diet

The diet includes large insects.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Striped Cuckoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Striped_Cuckoo

External Links

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