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

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

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

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.

(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.

Propaganda under the cut: