Screaming Piha

About the Screaming Piha

The screaming piha (Lipaugus vociferans) is a species of passerine bird in the lesser-known family Cotingidae, the cotingas. It is found in every mainland South American country except for these four countries: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The screaming piha has a complicated taxonomic history. It was originally described as Ampelis cinerea but that binomial was already in use for the pompadour cotinga (now named Xipholena punicea). The oldest available name was Muscicapa vociferans, with which Weid mistakenly placed it in the Old World flycatcher family. It was moved to genus Lipaugus in 1828 by Boie who erected that genus for it (but spelled it Lipangus because of mis-reading the name's Greek origin).

The screaming piha is monotypic. The screaming piha is 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10 in) long and weighs 68 to 87 g (2.4 to 3.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have medium gray upperparts. Their tail and their wings' flight feathers and greater coverts are browner or duskier. Their underparts are a paler gray that is palest on the throat. They have a brown, grayish brown, or gray iris, a black maxilla and a dusky mandible... Wikipedia →