Striped Cuckoo

The Striped Cuckoo, Tapera naevia, is a near-passerine bird, the only member of the genus Tapera (Thunberg, 1819). This cuckoo is a resident breeding bird from Mexico and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Argentina.

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The Striped Cuckoo is found in open country with trees or shrubs, and the edges of mangrove forests. This species is a brood parasite usually on spinetails, but often also wrens, and other species with domed nests. The female cuckoo lays one, sometimes two, white or bluish eggs in the host’s large stick nest. The eggs hatch in 15 days, with a further 18 days until the cuckoo fledges. The young spinetails disappear.

This species is about 27 cm long and weighs 40 g. The adult is mainly grey-brown above, streaked with black and buff. It has a pale supercilium and a chestnut and black crest which is raised as part of its display. The underparts are off-white, and the tail is long and graduated. Immature birds are spotted with buff and are more rufous on the back and wings.

The Striped Cuckoo eats large insects, often taken off the ground. This is a solitary and fairly shy species which tends to keep to the cover of bushes, although it will sing from more open perches. It has a whistled call usually of two or three notes, wu-weee or wu-wu-wee, and can be attracted by imitations of this.

Brazilian folklore

This bird is very important in Brazilian folklore, being related to the legend of the saci, or matita-perê. Other than the name saci, the bird is also known as matinta-pereira, pitica (Pará), crispim, fenfém, martim-pererê, matimpererê, matintapereira, matintaperera, matitaperê, peitica, peito-ferido, roceiro-planta, seco-fico, sede-sede, saci-do-campo, sem-fim, fém-fém, tempo-quente, peixe-frito (Bahia), e peixe-frito-seu-veríssimo. [1] [2]

Matita-pereira is famously mentioned in Tom Jobim's song Águas de Março.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Tapera naevia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.