Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo

Appearance

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is 40 to 48 cm long, about half of which is the tail. It has a long decurved bill with a black maxilla and a yellow mandible with a black tip. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have entirely gray-brown upperparts. Their throat and breast are gray and the belly and undertail coverts tawny. The upper surface of their tail is gray-brown and the underside gray brown darkening to black near the large white tips. Their eye is surrounded by bare red skin. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash on the breast, less black on the underside of the tail, and an orange-red eye ring.

Distribution

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo is found throughout the main island of Puerto Rico. It might have once resided on Isla Vieques, and a single specimen believed to be a vagrant was collected on St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo as being of Least Concern. It has a somewhat restricted range and an estimated population of 2200 to 3000 mature individuals that is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. Its biology is very poorly known, and "[r]eproductive information, ranging from breeding territoriality and behavior, to reproductive success, is almost non-existent."

Habitat

It inhabits a variety of forested landscapes including semi-open woodlands, dense montane forest, dry coastal forest, and swamp forest. It is also found in coffee plantations and brushy limestone hills. In elevation it is most common between sea level and 900 m but can be found almost to the highest peaks of the island.

Reproduction

Almost nothing is known about the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo's breeding phenology. Its nest is a loose platform made of sticks and placed in a tree or large bush. The clutch size is two or three eggs.

Food

The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo mostly forages for prey from the middle to upper layers of the forest, though it also hunts in the understory and on the ground. It hunts by stealth, climbing along tree branches or walking on the ground. Its principal food is lizards and also includes adult and larval insects, eggs, and occasionally frogs.