[2] 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.

[3][4] 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".

[7] 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.

Its diet is cosmopolitan and includes Anolis lizards, adult and larval insects, mice, nestling birds, and sometimes tree frogs.

[10] The Jamaican lizard cuckoo's breeding season generally spans from March to August, though courtship has been observed in October.

"[10] The IUCN has assessed the Jamaican lizard cuckoo as being of Least Concern, though it has a rather small range and an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing.