Guira guira
The Guira Cuckoo (Guira guira) is a striking Neotropical member of the cuckoo family, characterized by its shaggy, often disheveled appearance. Measuring approximately 34-40 cm (13-16 in) in length with a wingspan of 50-60 cm (20-24 in) and weighing around 120-180 g (4.2-6.3 oz), it presents creamy white underparts contrasting with streaky brown upperparts and a rufous-tinged, long graduated tail. Its most distinctive features include a prominent, untidy rufous-orange crest, a bright yellow-o...
This highly adaptable species primarily inhabits semi-open country, including savannas, grasslands with scattered trees, pastures, agricultural areas, and forest edges, typically at elevations from sea level up to 2,000 meters.
The Guira Cuckoo is an opportunistic omnivore, feeding primarily on large insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, and cicadas, as well as small vertebrates like lizards, frogs, snakes, and even small birds and rodents, primarily foraging on the ground.
The Guira Cuckoo is an exceptionally social and diurnal bird, typically foraging and roosting in noisy groups ranging from 6 to 15 individuals, sometimes gathering in larger aggregations. They are agile foragers, primarily hunting insects and small vertebrates on the ground, often running and pou...
The Guira Cuckoo is a widespread resident throughout much of eastern and central South America. Its extensive range spans from northeastern Brazil south through Paraguay, Uruguay, and into central Argentina. Westward, it can be found across Bolivia and extending into parts of eastern Peru and Ecu...
Least Concern
- Unlike most cuckoos, the Guira Cuckoo is not a brood parasite; instead, it is a communal breeder, with multiple females laying eggs in a single nest. - Intraspecific egg ejection and even infanticide are common within communal nests, where dominant females may remove eggs or hatchlings from oth...