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Cuckoo

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For other uses, see Cuckoo (disambiguation).
iCuckoos
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Vigors, 1825
Genera

See text.

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos (family Musophagidae, sometimes treated as a separate order, Musophagiformes). Some zoologists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, though it is now usually placed in an order of its own, Opisthocomiformes. The taxonomy of this enigmatic species, however, remains in some dispute.

The cuckoo family, in addition to those species named as such, also includes the roadrunners, the anis, and the coucals.

Cuckoos are birds of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. Most occur in forests, but some prefer more open country. Most are insect eaters, with hairy caterpillars, which are avoided by many birds, being a speciality.

Many of the Old World species and some New World species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. The best-known example is the European Common Cuckoo. The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host's, and the cuckoo chick grows faster; in most cases the chick evicts the eggs or young of the host species.

The roadrunners, anis and coucals all build their own nests, as do most American cuckoos. Most of these species nest in trees or bushes, but the coucals lay their eggs in nests on the ground or in low shrubs. These large tropical cuckoos are capable of taking vertebrate prey such as lizards.

The arboreal types are insectivorous; the larger, ground types also feed variously on snakes, lizards, small rodents, and other birds, which they bludgeon with their strong bills.

Female parasitic-cuckoos seem to specialize and lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host. Parasitic cuckoos are grouped into gentes, with each gente specializing in a particular host. There is some evidence that the gentes are genetically different from one another.

Non-parasitic cuckoos, like most other non-passerines, lay white eggs, but many of the parasitic species lay coloured eggs to match those of their passerine hosts.

Cuckoo genera differ in the number of primary wing feathers as below.

  • Phaenicophaeus, Coccyzus, Piaya - 9
  • Cuculus - 9 or 10
  • Hierococcyx,Pachycoccyx,Clamator levaillantii, Centropus - 10
  • Microdynamis, Eudynamys,Clamator glandarius - 11
  • Some coucals - 12
  • Scythrops novaehollandiae - 13

The cuckoo family gets its English and scientific names from the call of the Common Cuckoo, which is also familiar from cuckoo clocks.

[edit] Species list


[edit] References

Alan Feduccia The Origin and Evolution of Birds ISBN 0-300-06460-8

[edit] External links

de:Kuckuck (Art) es:Cuculidae eo:Kukoledoj fr:Cuculidae ko:뻐꾸기과 hu:Kakukkfélék nl:Koekoeken ja:カッコウ科 (Sibley) no:Gjøkfamilien pt:Cuculidae sr:Кукавица fi:Käet tr:Guguk uk:Зозуля zh:杜鹃科 ru:Кукушковые

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