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Cuckoo
| Cuckoos | |
|---|---|
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| Cuculus canorus: the male (front) is grey with dark bars; female grey morph (right) is similar, but with pinkish-buff edge to the throat. The less common red-brown 'rufus' morph is also female (left rear) | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Family: | Cuculidae Vigors, 1825
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The cuckoos are a family of near-passerine birds. They are the main part of the order called Cuculiformes. The family is famous for its "nest-parasite" members, but has a range of other types of bird. The cuckoo family, in addition to those species named as such, also includes the roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis.
The family is notable for its subfamily, the Cuculinae. Many of them have a unique kind of parasitism called brood parasitism. This means it lays its eggs in the nests of other kinds of birds, who then rear the baby cuckoo instead of their own.
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