About Saurothera vieilloti Bonaparte, 1850
The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo (scientific name Saurothera vieilloti Bonaparte, 1850) measures 40 to 48 cm (16 to 19 in) in total length, with the tail making up roughly half of this length. It has a long decurved bill: the maxilla is black, and the yellow mandible has a black tip. The sexes have identical plumage. Adult individuals have entirely gray-brown upperparts. Their throat and breast are gray, while their belly and undertail coverts are tawny. The upper surface of the tail is gray-brown; the underside is gray-brown that darkens to black close to the large white tips of the tail feathers. A patch of bare red skin surrounds the eye. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash on the breast, less black coloration on the underside of the tail, and an orange-red eye ring. The Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo occurs across the main island of Puerto Rico. It may have previously inhabited Isla Vieques, and one individual specimen thought to be a vagrant was collected on St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands. It lives in a wide range of forested habitats, including semi-open woodlands, dense montane forest, dry coastal forest, and swamp forest. It can also be found in coffee plantations and brushy limestone hills. It is most common at elevations between sea level and 900 m (3,000 ft), but can be found nearly all the way up to the highest peaks of Puerto Rico.
