Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo

Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo

Saurothera vetula

Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park
246 Verified sightings at Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park From 2019 to 2026
246 Verified sightings across 1 park From 2019 to 2026
November Best month highest sighting rate
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo (Coccyzus vetula) is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is endemic to Jamaica. The Jamaican lizard cuckoo was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Cuculus vetula. Linnaeus cited earlier descriptions by the collector Hans Sloane and the Irish physician Patrick Browne, both of whom had given the English name as "Old man". The specific epithet vetula is Latin meaning "old woman". The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is now one of 13 species placed in the genus Coccyzus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo and three other lizard cuckoos were for a time considered a single species. Individually they were previously placed in genus Saurothera that was later merged into the current Coccyzus, and they are considered a superspecies.

The Jamaican lizard cuckoo is 38 to 40 cm (15 to 16 in) long, about half of which is the tail, and weighs 86 to 105 g (3.0... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park 🇯🇲 Jamaica
~30%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park?

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo sighting in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, based on 246 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park?

November has the highest sighting rate for Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park in our monthly data.

← Back to Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park