Common Squirrel-CuckooFamily Cuculidae
Common Squirrel-Cuckoo
Piaya cayana
In Spanish: Cuco Ardilla (Bobo Chizo, Cacao, San Miguel)
- Resident
A rufous cuckoo that runs along branches like a squirrel
The Common Squirrel-Cuckoo (Cuco Ardilla, Piaya cayana) is a large, slim, rufous cuckoo with a very long white-tipped tail. It is resident across the whole of Costa Rica, and it hops and runs along branches the way a squirrel does.
Pairs tend to be spread out, and the bird forages stealthily, so it can be surprisingly hard to notice. Its loud call often gives it away first, and a glide across a road or trail is a common way to meet it.
How to find it
Look in gardens and at forest edges, and listen, because the calls are heard more often than the bird is seen. It usually forages in the middle and upper levels of trees, so watch for a long-tailed shape gliding across roads or trails. Its squirrel-like hopping from branch to branch is often what catches the eye first. A local guide can point out a resting bird that you would likely miss alone.
How to recognise it
This is a large, slim cuckoo, about 46 cm long. It is warm rufous or cinnamon-brown above, with a very long tail tipped white. Seen from below, the tail alternates black and white. The iris is red, and the bill and eye skin are yellowish green (one local guide describes the bill as bright yellow). Young birds have a grayish bill and face skin and a brown iris, and they show less white at the tail tip than adults. Birds in the dry Pacific lowlands, from El Salvador to northwestern Costa Rica, can be paler, especially on the underparts.
What it sounds like
Recording: Alex S. Rosa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.
Behaviour and diet
It hops between branches and runs along them like a squirrel, leaping across gaps in the foliage rather than making short flights. It catches caterpillars, including stinging, hairy ones, plus katydids, cicadas, and sometimes spiders and small lizards. Unlike some cuckoos it is not a nest parasite: it builds its own cup nest, and both parents take turns incubating and raising the young. When approached closely it tends to hide behind leaves instead of flying off.
Where it lives
It lives in the canopy and edges of wet and dry forest, young and old second growth, cacao and coffee plantations, farmland, suburbs and gardens. It is resident across the whole country, from sea level up to about 2,450 m on rare occasions, and is described as fairly common at low to middle elevations on both slopes. It has been recorded in conservation areas from Guanacaste and Tempisque to Osa, Tortuguero, Arenal and the Central Volcanic Range.
When to see it
In southern Costa Rica the breeding season is long, running January to October, with a peak from April to June. Another Costa Rican natural history text gives January to August, and records a pair mating in October.
Similar birds
No similar species overlap its range from Mexico through Central America. It only needs comparing with the Black-bellied Cuckoo in the Amazon.
Names and lore in Costa Rica
Costa Rican Spanish names include Cuco Ardilla (also Cuco Ardilla Común), Bobo Chizo, Cacao and San Miguel. It is locally nicknamed 'Pia Pia'.
Status and conservation
The official Costa Rican bird list (AOCR) classes it as a resident (R), and it is common across the country.
Photography tips
In dry-season Guanacaste, one researcher often filmed it on camera traps set at the last puddles of water, where the birds bathe, so water sources are a good place to wait. When approached closely it hides behind leaves and peers down sideways through the foliage rather than flying off. It may also follow walkers from branch to branch.
How we know this 22 sources, each read on the date shown
- Aves de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04
https://www.avesdecostarica.com/Piaya-cayana.html - Flickr (Aves de Costa Rica species text) read 2026-11-04
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jobando/31386148983 - La Iguana Golf Course local bird guide read 2026-11-04
https://www.golflaiguana.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9272/2023/10/Wildlife_page.pdf - Birds of the World read 2026-11-04
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/squcuc1/cur/systematics - Birds & Breakfast Costa Rica read 2026-11-04
https://birdsandbreakfast.com/es/cuco-ardilla/ - Ecos del Bosque read 2026-11-04
https://ecosdelbosque.com/fauna/piaya-cayana - Birds of the World read 2026-11-04
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/squcuc1/cur/breeding - Lista Oficial de las Aves de Costa Rica (AOCR) read 2026-11-04
https://listaoficialavesdecostarica.wordpress.com/lista-oficial/lista-oficial-online/ - Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2018 read 2026-11-04
https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos18.html - Costa Rica Focus trip report read 2026-11-04
https://www.costaricafocus.com/costa-rica-birding-tour-october-2025-trip-report/ - Enter Costa Rica read 2026-11-04
https://www.entercostarica.com/tours/papagayo-hermosa-tours/early-bird-watching-tour - The Spunky Curl read 2026-11-04
https://thespunkycurl.com/curi-cancha-reserve/ - Eagle-Eye Tours trip report read 2026-11-04
https://www.eagle-eye.com/blog/costa-rica-sampler-trip-report-mar-20-31-2025/ - Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2016 read 2026-11-04
https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cos16.html - Field Guides Birding Tours, Costa Rica 2019 read 2026-11-04
https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cr119.html - Naturalista Costa Rica read 2026-11-04
https://costarica.inaturalist.org/taxa/555598-Piaya-cayana-thermophila - Retired in Costa Rica read 2026-11-04
https://www.charliedoggett.net/2021/11/13/fave-birds-squirrel-cuckoo/ - Reflections of the Natural World read 2026-11-04
https://reflectionsofthenaturalworld.com/2024/07/08/squirrel-cuckoo-2/ - Foto Diarist read 2026-11-04
https://fotodiarist.com/2015/12/02/two-costa-rican-cuckoos/ - JungleDragon read 2026-11-04
https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/7382/squirrel_cuckoo.html - Tico Times read 2026-11-04
https://ticotimes.net/2023/03/02/costa-rica-wildlife-meet-the-squirrel-cuckoo - Howler Magazine read 2026-11-04
https://howlermag.com/cuckoo-birds-in-costa-rica/