Coulicou de Jamaïque

Un impressionnant oiseau à longue queue des boisés humides de moyenne altitude, y compris la végétation secondaire, où il se nourrit dans le sous-bois en fouillant et en sondant la végétation à la recherche d'insectes et de lézards. Généralement solitaire et secret, mais pas timide. Notez le long bec droit et étroit de cette espèce et ses parties inférieures chamois. Le Coucou à ventre châtain est similaire en forme générale, mais il est un peu plus grand avec un ventre châtain et une poitrine grisâtre ; notez également que son bec est beaucoup plus court et légèrement courbé comparé au Coucou-lézard de Jamaïque. Le Coucou des mangroves, d'une similarité passagère, est un peu plus petit, a le bec plus court, n'a pas de cercle oculaire et a un masque noir. Les Coucous-lézards de Jamaïque sont souvent détectés pour la première fois par la voix : un « k-k-k-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh… » rapide et crépitant qui devient plus lent et plus fort à mesure qu'il progresse ; généralement donné à une hauteur uniforme.

Identification

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is 38 to 40 cm (15 to 16 in) long, about half of which is the tail, and weighs 86 to 105 g (3.0 to 3.7 oz). It has a long, straight, rectangular bill with a black maxilla and a paler mandible. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a brown forehead, crown to below the eye, and nape. Their upperparts are grayish with rufous primaries. Their throat is whitish and the rest of the underparts are rufous that is lighter on the undertail coverts. Their tail feathers are gray with wide white tips; the central pair have a black band above the tip. Their eye is surrounded by bare red skin. Juveniles have narrower tail feathers than adults and buffy tips on the secondaries.

Taxonomie

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo and three other lizard cuckoos were for a time considered a single species. Individually they were previously placed in genus Saurothera that was later merged into the current Coccyzus, and they are considered a superspecies. The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is monotypic.

Nom scientifique

Coccyzus vetula

Autorité

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Ordre

Cuculiformes

Famille

Cuculidae

Genre

Coccyzus

Répartition et habitat

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is found throughout the island from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) of elevation. It primarily inhabits lowland tropical evergreen forest and is also found in tropical deciduous forest, more open woodlands, and semi-arid landscapes of trees and shrubs.

Migration

Vertical migration

Comportement

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is not migratory.<p>The Jamaican lizard cuckoo forages mostly from the forest mid-story to the canopy, running along branches and gliding from tree to tree. Its diet is cosmopolitan and includes Anolis lizards, adult and larval insects, mice, nestling birds, and sometimes tree frogs. Young are fed mainly with lizards.<p>The Jamaican lizard cuckoo's breeding season generally spans from March to August, though courtship has been observed in October. It makes a flat platform nest of twigs lined with leaves, placed well hidden in a tangle of branches or bromeliads. Both adults incubate the eggs and care for nestlings.<p>The Jamaican lizard cuckoo's principal vocalization is a "[r]apid, low 'cak-cak-cak-ka-ka-ka-k-k'."