#cuculiformes

[herpsandbirds]

Bornean Ground-Cuckoo (Carpococcyx radiceus), family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes, Sabah, Borneo

photograph by PH Teoh

[iridescent-wildlife]

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). Family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes.

Oklahoma, USA. July 2020.

[snototter]

A giant coua (Coua gigas) in Toliara, Madagascar.

by Chien Lee

[chuck-wills-widow]

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) with its emotional support Giant Desert Centipede (Scolopendra californianus) July, Palo Duro Canyon, TX USA

[best-bird-tournament]

Cuckoo (Cuculiformes) order / Cuculidae family - RUNOFF

Which is the best bird?

Green-billed malkoha

Klaas's cuckoo

Greater roadrunner

Voting ended onFeb 7

[jojos-birdwatching-adventure]

Hierophant Green / Diederik Cuckoo

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

Bird #48 - the pied cuckoo (LC)

Also known as the Jacobin cuckoo or the pied crested cuckoo. You can see them in sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia or India. These birds are brood parasites, which cuckoos are of course famous for! In Africa, males have been seen distracting the hosts while the female sneaks in.

To get their eggs into a host's nest, they have to be super fast; Females just drop the egg in while perched on the rim of the nest. They don't even bother with sitting down! The cuckoo egg sometimes drops onto and cracks a host's egg, so I guess it benefits the cuckoos to just chuck it in like that.

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Reptilia - Cuculiformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our next order of birds are the Cuculiformes, commonly called “cuckoos”. Cuculiformes contains one living family, Cuculidae, and 33 genera.

Cuckoos are generally medium-sized, slender, intelligent birds. Most live in trees, though some are primarily ground-dwelling. They feed on insects, insect larvae, and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Their feet are zygodactyl, meaning that the two inner toes point forward and the two outer backward. Arboreal species tend to be more slender have short tarsi, while terrestrial species are more heavy set and have longer tarsi for running. Almost all cuckoos have long tales that are used for steering during either flying or running. Some species have cryptic plumage, while others have bright, elaborate, or iridescent plumage. They live all over the world’s continents except Antarctica, in habitats ranging from rainforest to desert. Some are migratory.

Most cuckoos are monogamous, though exceptions exist. Cuckoos are usually solitary, and only some species can be found in pairs or groups. However, during the breeding season a pair will spend time together, sometimes bringing each other gifts of insects or fruit. Some species of cuckoo are brood parasites. Brood parasites will lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, in some cases while the male distracts the host parents. Their eggs sometimes look similar to the eggs of their chosen hosts, though they usually have thicker and stronger shells. This protects the egg if a host parent tries to damage it. The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host eggs, and the cuckoo chick grows faster; in most cases, the chick instinctively evicts the eggs and/or young of the host species. In some species the cuckoo chick does not harm the other eggs or chicks intentionally, but will outcompete them for food. However, the majority of cuckoo species are not brood parasites, and their nests vary in shape from shallow platforms of twigs, to globular or domed nests of grasses, to saucers or bowls on the ground, to simply being laid directly on the ground. Non-parasitic species lay white eggs, and both male and female are usually involved in care of the eggs and chick. The young of all species are altricial, born weak and featherless, though non-parasitic cuckoos leave the nest before they can fly.

Cuculiformes are part of the clade Otidimorphae, which also includes the Musophagiformes (turacos) and Otidiformes (bustards). Otidimorphs arose in the Eocene, around 34 million years ago. One of the oldest known cuckoos is Dynamopterus velox from the Oligocene.

Do you have a favorite in Cuculiformes?

One or more of my favorite animals is in Cuculiformes

I love at least one or more of these animals

I like at least one or more of these animals

I am neutral about all of these animals

I dislike all of these animals

Voting ended onApr 19, 2025

Propaganda under the cut:

While most species of cuckoo are solitary and secretive, the Anis (genus Crotophaga) (image 4) tend to be the exception to this rule. They live and nest communally, with a large nest being built by several pairs in which a number of females lay their eggs and then share incubation, feeding, and territorial defense duties. They also tend to be extremely trusting and friendly towards humans and other species.

Many cuckoos will eat the noxious, hairy caterpillars avoided by other birds. They can do this by rubbing the caterpillar back and forth on a branch to rub off their venomous hairs, and then crushing it with special bony plates in the back of their mouth.

The smallest cuckoo is the Little Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcites minutillus) which is 15-16 cm (5.9-6.3 in) long and weighs 14.5-17 grams (0.51-0.60 oz). It feeds on insects and while it usually hunts alone, it has often been seen hunting in groups of up to 5 birds.

Meanwhile, the Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) is the largest living cuckoo, at 56–70 cm (22–28 in) long, with a 88–107 cm (35–42 in) wingspan, and weighing between 560–935 g (1.2–2 lb). The Channel-billed Cuckoo is a brood parasite, and also the largest brood parasite in the world. They parasitize the nests of larger Australian birds, such as ravens (genus Corvus), currawongs (genus Strepera), and butcherbirds (family Artamidae).

The fastest cuckoos are the Roadrunners (genus Geococcyx) (see gif above), which have been recorded running at 32 km/h (20 mph).

The Black Coucal (Centropus grillii) is unique among cuckoos for being polyandrous, with males tending to the nests while the larger female patrols the territory. A female’s territory can contain several nests with a different male at each nest, and males will often adopt the eggs and chicks of other males.

Cuckoos are a heavily present symbol in many human cultures. In Ancient Greek mythology, the god Zeus transformed himself into a cuckoo so that he could seduce the goddess Hera, to whom the bird was sacred (women in Ancient Greek mythology were frequently attracted to birds.) Three sacred cuckoos appear in the Finnish epic the Kalevala, connected to the death of a young girl who was being forced into marriage. In India, cuckoos are sacred to Kamadeva, the god of desire and longing, whereas in Japan, the cuckoo symbolises unrequited love. Cuckoos are a sacred animal to the Bon religion of Tibet. In Germany, a cuckoo clock is a classic pendulum-driven clock that mimics the call of a Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (image 2), complete with an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Additionally, the brood parasitism of some cuckoo species gave rise to the term "cuckold", referring to the husband of an adulterous wife.