Cuckoo Cuckoo Carol (music) Category="Brood parasites"Category="Cuculidae"
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Cuckoos
[image]
Pallid Cuckoo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Cuculiformes
Family:Cuculidae
Vigors,  1825
Genera
See text.

This article is about the family of birds. For the card or board games sometimes known as "Cuckoo", see Gnav. For the movie by Alexander Rogozhkin, see Cuckoo.
The Cuculidae or cuckoos are a family of Near passerine birds. Many of the Old World species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. The best-known example of these is the European Common Cuckoo. The chick which hatches from the egg laid in another species' nest methodically evicts all other occupants.

The family also includes the American cuckoos, the roadrunners, the anis, and the coucals, none of which are brood parasites. Each build their own nests in trees or bushes. Unlike many cuckoos, 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.

These birds are 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.

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

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 placed in an order of its own, Opisthocomiformes. The taxonomy of this enigmatic species, however, remains in some dispute.

Species list