Guira Cuckoo (Guira guira)

Identification & Behavior: ~39 cm (15.3 in). The Guira Cuckoo is unmistakable. It has a shaggy-looking head with a crest in tones of orange and buffy streaked with black. The back of the neck and mantle are streaked with black and warm brown. The bill color varies among individuals from yellow to shades of red and orange. The underparts are generally pale buffy with finely streaked neck and breast. The tail is very long and bicolored with buffy and black. It has pale terminal tail tips. The head has a distant resemblance to that of a Hoatzin, which is much larger.  The Guira Cuckoo moves about in groups of 4 to 6 individuals in semi-open habitats.

Status: The Guira Cuckoo has been added to the main list of the birds of Peru in March 2020.  The few records known in the country come from Madre de Dios where the cuckoo appears to be colonizing the semi-open and open human-created habitats.  It also occurs in Bo and Br.

Name in Spanish: Cuclillo Guira o Pirincho.

Sub-species: Guira Cuckoo (Guira guira), (Gmelin, 1788).

Meaning of Name: Guira: Tupi, Brazilian. Guira= Bird.

See more of the Family Cuculidae