Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Ubatuba November 2009

Bird name: Smooth Billed Ani
Latin: Crotophaga ani
Other: Anu-preto (Br)
Family: Cuculidae • Anis

No mistaking the Smooth-billed Ani with its prehistoric profile. Found in most of South America excluding Chile and the southern tip. A gregarious bird in the cuckoo family, often found near humans and farms.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Itatiaia November 2009

Bird name: Squirrel Cuckoo
Latin: Piaya cayana
Other: Alma-de-gato (Br)
Family: Cucilidae • Cuckoos

Another bird which was not rare, but difficult to get close enough to for a decent photo on my visit, was the Squirrel Cuckoo. This one settled briefly in a distant tree.

The Squirrel Cuckoo is identifiable from its very long tail, rufous colours (in southeast Brazil) and yellow bill. Its range extends thoughout most of Latin America.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Lagoa do Peixe, RS • 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.More photos...

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

Bird name: Dark Billed Cuckoo
Latin: Coccyzus melacoryphus
Other: Papa-lagarta-acanelado (Br)
Family: Cucuilidae • Cuckoos

The Dark-billed Cuckoo is found in much of South America, including all of Brazil, though it only migrates to Rio Grande do Sul in the austral summer.

It is in the same genus as the Lizard Cuckoos, which eat lizards. This group of new world cuckoos are generally not brood-parasitic.

The Dark-billed Cuckoo has a distinctive yellow chest and belly, a grey-brown cap which runs below the eye to bill level, and brown back and upperside of wings. It is grey-white on the side neck area with a fully black bill.More photos...

Photos copyright: monacoeye • Danube Delta, Romania • May 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Common Cuckoo
Latin: Cuclus canorus
Other: Coucou gris
Family: Cuculidae • Cuckoos

The brown cuckoos are female and the grey ones here are probably male, although there is both a brown and a grey female form.

In the Danube Delta in May, you are never out of earshot of a cuckoo, and they are a fairly common sight, flying over the reedbeds and settling in trees.

More photos...