Guira Cuckoo

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Lagoa do Peixe • November 2009

Bird name: Guira Cuckoo
Latin: Guira guira
Other: Anu-branco (Br) • Pirincho (Es), Coco guira, Serere
Family: Cucuilidae • Cuckoos

The Guira Cuckoo is unmistakeable by its pale spiky haired appearance - the Sid Vicious of the bird world. Its long tail has a very broad brown band bordered by white, but the two central feathers are all dark. Irises are yellow or orange.

Guira Cuckoos can use communal nests where several birds all lay up to 20 eggs in one nest. Guira Cuckoos are often seen in groups, but here they were mostly in ones and twos, near farmland.