Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana) [XC766544]
by Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Loaiza B. from Reserva Geobot\u00e1nico Pululahua, Pichincha, Ecuador (courtship)
Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana) [XC384725]
by Richard E. Webster from Parna Capara\u00f3, Alto Capara\u00f3, Minas Gerais, Brazil (call)
Subspecies
The abruptness and rarity of intergradation between the forms mexicana and thermophila in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, suggest that these forms may belong to distinct species, though a few intermediates are known.
The following 14 subspecies are recognised:
mexicana (Swainson, 1827) - Mexico, on Pacific slope and inland south to Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Mexican Squirrel-cuckoo (Piaya mexicana).
thermophila Sclater, PL, 1860 - Eastern Mexico (eastern San Luis Potosí and southern Tamaulipas south to Veracruz, Yucatán and Isthmus of Tehuantepec on Gulf coast south to near Tehuantepec City) through Central America to Panama and north-western Colombia.
nigricrissa (Cabanis, 1862) - Western Colombia (ocurring east to slopes of central Andes), western Ecuador, north-western and east-central Peru.
mehleri Bonaparte, 1850 - North-eastern Colombia east of Gulf of Urabá to Magdalena Valley and along western slope of eastern Andes, eastern in coastal Venezuela to Paria Peninsula.
mesura (Cabanis & Heine, 1863) - Colombia east of Andes, and eastern Ecuador.
circe Bonaparte, 1850 - Venezuela south of L Maracaibo.
cayana (Linnaeus, 1766) - Eastern and southern Venezuela through the Guianas and south to northern bank of lower Amazon.
insulana Hellmayr, 1906 - Trinidad.
obscura Snethlage, E, 1908 - Central Brazil south of Amazon, from R Juruá east to R Tapajóz and south to upper Gy-Paraná.
hellmayri Pinto, 1938 - Brazil south of Amazon, from Santarem to mouth of Amazon, and coast of northern Maranhío.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet