• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Coccyzus merlini and C. bahamensis (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as C. merlini following AOU (2006), and before then were placed in the genus Saurothera as S. merlini following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	223,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.47 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'fairly common' (Stotz et al. 1996). This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 10.4% within its mapped range over the past three generations (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is tentatively suspected that this loss of cover may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame.

Trend justification:   .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Cuba	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Cuba	Alejandro de Humboldt
Cuba	Alturas de Banao
Cuba	Cayo Sabinal, Ballenatos y Manglares de la Bahía de Nuevitas
Cuba	Cayos Romano - Cruz - Megano Grande
Cuba	Cienaga de Lanier y Sur de la Isla de la Juventud
Cuba	Ciénaga de Zapata
Cuba	Delta del Cauto
Cuba	Delta del Mayarí
Cuba	Desembarco del Granma
Cuba	Gibara
Cuba	Gran Humedal del Norte de Ciego de Ávila
Cuba	Gran Piedra - Pico Mogote
Cuba	Guanahacabibes
Cuba	Hatibonico - Baitiquirí - Imías
Cuba	La Mensura
Cuba	Limones - Tuabaquey
Cuba	Mil Cumbres
Cuba	Pico Cristal
Cuba	Río Máximo
Cuba	Siboney - Juticí
Cuba	Sierra del Chorrillo
Cuba	Sierra del Rosario
Cuba	Topes de Collantes
Cuba	Turquino - Bayamesa

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Medicine - human & veterinary	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Cuban Lizard-cuckoo Coccyzus merlini. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/cuban-lizard-cuckoo-coccyzus-merlini on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.