Guira Cuckoo

Guira guira - Guira cantara

Systematics

Order
:
Cuculiformes
Family
:
Cuculidés
Genus
:
Guira
Species
:
guira

Descriptor

Gmelin, JF, 1788

Biometrics

Size
: 40 cm
Wingspan
: -
Weight
: 120 à 160 g

Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

The Guira Cuckoo is a New World cuckoo. It measures around 40 cm, with almost half of it being the tail. It weighs between 120-160 grams. There is no sexual dimorphism. The first thing that strikes is the crested head and the long tail. The crown has red tuft feathers that can become erect and form a crest when the bird is agitated. The eye, which ranges from white to orange, is set in a yellow face. The beak is strong, yellow at the base and orange at the end. The upper parts are blackish-brown finely striped with white. When the bird opens its wings or flies away, a large white area is revealed that extends from the back to the tail, invisible when the wings are closed. The lower parts are whitish-brown finely striped with brown at the throat, sides of the neck and chest. The tail, as long as the body, is black and white. It has three bands on the underside, a brown one on the top, a black one in the middle and a white one at the end. The legs are gray. The young have a dark grey beak and a black eye.

Subspecific information monotypic species

Foreign names

Guira cantara,
Pirincho,
anu-branco,
Guirakuckuck,
girakakukk,
Guirakoekoek,
Cuculo guira,
guiragök,
Guiragjøk,
gvíra podivná,
kukačka guira,
Guira,
vyökäki,
guira,
guira,
Гуира,
アマゾンカッコウ,
圭拉鹃,
圭拉鵑,

Voice song and cries

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Its cry is high and shrill - iii or iié - and varies slightly depending if it is sung in flight or while perched.

Habitat

The Guira Cuckoo prefers open spaces: dry or wet meadows, savannas, maquis... It also appreciates wet areas (marshes, peat bogs) as well as cultivated areas. It takes advantage of deforestation to expand its distribution area.

Behaviour character trait

It is a social species that is usually found in groups of 3-4, up to a total of fifteen individuals. The Guira Cuckoo loves to warm itself in the sun by spreading its wings and taking dust baths. Due to this habit, the plumage of its lower parts is coloured like the soil. It is afraid of the cold and at night, the birds huddle close to keep each other warm. It can easily die of cold.

Flight

The flight is heavy and slow.

Dietfeeding habits

The Guira Cuckoo is largely carnivorous. It mainly consumes insects, crickets, caterpillars, and other arthropods, spiders, myriapods, etc. but it also regularly eats small vertebrates (lizards, frogs, small mammals...). In the absence of its preferred prey, it can also feed on fruits or seeds.

Reproduction nesting

Guira Cuckoos build nests, both individual and collective, and do not lay eggs in the nests of other birds, unlike other Cuculidae. However, females may expel the eggs of other females of the same species from the nest to lay their own. The adults do not always take good care of the eggs and it has been noted that they sometimes abandon a nest with eggs. The offspring leave the nest before they can fly and are still fed by the parents for several weeks.