The Story
I photographed this Common Squirrel-Cuckoo (Piaya cayana) at El Escondite Reserva Natural, a private reserve near Villagarzón, Putumayo, Colombia. It is a large, active cuckoo of woodland canopy, edges and second growth, found from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay. It eats large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars, including those with stinging hairs. It makes explosive kip and kip weeuu calls, and its song is a whistled wheep wheep wheep wheep. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/4000 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. El Escondite sits at kilometer 27 of the road between Puerto Asís and Mocoa, with flat trails through regenerating forest.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Common Squirrel-Cuckoo (Piaya cayana) belongs to the family Cuculidae (Cuckoos) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List