Belongs within: Cuculidae.
Contains: Cuculus.
The Cuculinae are the Old World parasitic cuckoos. These insectivorous birds are best known for their trait of laying their eggs in the nests of passerine birds, which then raise the cuckoo chicks as if they were their own.
Within the Cuculinae, the bronze cuckoos of the genus Chrysococcyx are distinctive for the metallic green coloration on their upper parts. The koels of the genus Eudynamys are large, long-tailed cuckoos found in southern and eastern Asia and northern Australasia; males are black in coloration whereas females are dark brown above with pale spots. The channel-billed cuckoo Scythrops novaehollandiae is a large, heavy-billed species found in northern Australasia that targets similarly large birds such as crows and Australian magpies.
Characters (Mason 1997): Small to large slender birds small to stout decurved bills with swollen rounded nostrils and vestigial rictal bristles; body feathering soft, sleek, and sometimes glossed brilliantly green or blue-black, close in varied tracts but without apterium between dorsal-cervical and interscapular tracts; no downs; aftershafts absent (vestigial?); uropygial gland well developed, naked. Feet relatively weak, adapted for arboreal perching, zygodactylous with outer toe permanently reversed; tarsi rather coarsely scutellate, toes with short claws; hypotarsus with two closed canals. Sexes dimorphic or similar, males usually larger than females. Wings rounded to commonly pointed: ten primaries plus remicle and nine to twelve eutaxic secondaries moulting erratically in ‘transilient’ mode; alula four-feathered. Tail short to long and graduated: ten rectrices. Nares holorhinal and impervious, nasal septum imperforate; desmognathous palate with vestigial, incomplete vomer, palatines with narrowly rounded shelf, maxillary processes swollen and straight, lachrymals moderately enlarged to vestigial, sometimes almost reaching jugal bar, free from thin, variably enlarged ectethmoids, uncinate bone consistently present; basipterygoid processes vestigial; interorbital septum with two or three principal perforations; atlas notched or perforated; 14 cervical vertebrae (13 in Clamator); sternum double-notched to almost entire on either side, both spina interna and externa present (fused in Clamator) or only spina externa (Eudynamys, Scythrops), furcula with or without prolong hypocleideum; fossae flanking preacetabular processes of pelvic girdle narrow to wide, shelf of preacetabular processes square to rounded, not overlapping ischium dorsally, lateral perforations along either side of iliac crest obsolete to pronounced. Musculus expansor secundariorum ‘cuculine’; pelvic muscle formula ABXY to AXY (ABEXY in Clamator), M. ambiens present; deep plantar tendons Type I. Carotid arteries paired. Syrinx tracheo-bronchial. Tongue small, cartilaginous; no crop; caeca present, rather long. Diploid karyotype of 78-80 chromosomes, with six pairs of macrochromosomes.
<==CuculinaeCC10
|--+--Scythrops Latham 1790BKB15, CC10 [Scythropinae]
| | `--*S. novaehollandiae Latham 1790CC10 [incl. S. novaehollandiae neglectus Mathews 1912WS48]
| `--+--Microdynamis parvaJT12
| `--Eudynamys Vigors & Horsfield 1826BKB15, CC10 [=Eudynamis Cabanis & Heine 1863CC10; Eudynameinae]
| |--*E. orientalis (Linnaeus 1766) [=Cuculus orientalis]CC10
| |--E. melanorhynchusJT12
| `--E. scolopaceus (Linnaeus 1758)JT12, CC10 [=Cuculus scolopaceusWS48]
| |--E. s. scolopaceusWS48
| `--E. s. cyanocephala (Latham 1801)WS48 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--+--Rhamphomantis megarhynchusJT12
| `--Chrysococcyx Boie 1826BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| | i. s.: C. crassirostrisJT12
| | C. maculatusJT12
| | C. malayanus (Raffles 1822)J06, WS48 [=Cuculus malayanusWS48, Chalcites malayanusWS48]
| | C. megarhynchusAP21
| | C. ruficollisJT12
| | C. rufomerusJ06
| | C. russatusJT12 [=C. minutillus russatusM03]
| | C. smaragdineusD66
| | C. xanthorhynchusJT12 [=Cuculus xanthorhynchusCC10, *Chalcococcyx xanthorhynchusCC10]
| |--+--C. caprius (Boddaert 1783)JT12, M-PG70 [=Cuculus capriusM-PG70]
| | `--C. klaas (Stephens 1815)BKB15, M-PG70 [=Cuculus klaasM-PG70]
| `--+--+--*C. cupreus (Shaw 1792)CC10, JT12, M-PG70 [=Cuculus cupreusCC10]
| | | |--C. c. cupreusM-PG70
| | | |--C. c. insularum Moreau & Chapin 1951M-PG70
| | | `--C. c. intermedius Hartlaub 1857 [=C. smaragdineus intermedius; incl. C. auratus sharpei]M-PG70
| | `--C. flavigularis Shelley 1879BKB15, M-PG70
| `--+--+--C. basalis (Horsfield 1821)BKB15, WS48 [=Cuculus basalisWS48, Chalcites basalisWS48]
| | | |--C. b. basalisWS48
| | | `--‘Chalcites’ b. modesta (Diggles 1876) (see below for synonymy)WS48
| | `--C. osculansBKB15
| `--+--C. lucidus (Gmelin 1788)BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| | |--C. l. lucidus (see below for synonymy)CC10
| | |--‘Chalcites’ lucidus hartertiRN72
| | |--‘Chalcites’ lucidus layardiRN72
| | `--C. l. plagosus Latham 1802CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--C. meyeriJT12
| `--C. minutillus Gould 1859BKB15, WS48
| |--C. m. minutillus (see below for synonymy)WS48
| `--C. m. barnardiM03
`--+--+--CuculusBKB15
| `--+--CercococcyxBKB15
| | |--C. mechowi Cabanis 1882JT12, M-PG70
| | `--+--C. montanus Chapin 1928JT12, M-PG70
| | `--C. olivinus Sassi 1912JT12, M-PG70
| `--HierococcyxBKB15
| |--H. bockiAP21
| |--H. fugaxBKB15
| |--H. hyperythrusAP21
| |--H. nisicolorAP21
| |--H. pectoralisAP21
| |--H. sparverioidesS89
| `--H. variusAP21
`--+--Heteroscenes Cabanis & Heine 1863CC10
| `--*H. pallidus (Latham 1802)CC10 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--Surniculus Lesson 1830BKB15, B94 [Surniculinae]
| |--S. dicruroidesAP21
| |--S. lugubrisBKB15
| |--S. musschenbroekiAP21
| `--S. velutinusJT12
`--Cacomantis Statius Müller 1843BKB15, CC10
| i. s.: C. aeruginosusAP21
| C. bronzinusS13
| C. heinrichiJT12
| C. leucolophusAP21
| C. passerinusJT12
| C. schistaceigularisS13
| C. sepulcralisJT12
| C. simusS13
| C. threnodesS89
|--+--C. castaneiventrisJT12
| |--C. flabelliformis (Latham 1802)BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| `--C. pyrrhophanus Vieillot 1817BKB15, WS48 [=Cuculus pyrrhophanusWS48]
`--+--C. sonneratiiJT12
`--+--C. merulinusBKB15 [incl. Cuculus flavusCC10, *Ca. flavusCC10]
`--C. variolosus (Vigors & Horsfield 1827)BKB15, WS48 [=Cuculus variolosusWS48]
|--C. v. variolosusJ06
|--C. v. dumetorumM03
`--C. v. infaustusJ06
Cacomantis flabelliformis (Latham 1802)BKB15, CC10 [=Cuculus flabelliformisCC10; incl. Cu. rubricatus albani Mathews 1912WS48, Cu. prionurus Lichtenstein 1823CC10, Cacomantis pyrrhophanus prionurusCC10, Cuculus pyrrhophanus prionurusCC10]
‘Chalcites’ basalis modesta (Diggles 1876) [=Lamprococcyx modesta; incl. Chrysococcyx basalis wyndhami Mathews 1912]WS48
Chrysococcyx Boie 1826BKB15, CC10 [incl. Chalcites Lesson 1830CC10, Chalcococcyx Cabanis & Heine 1863CC10, Lamprococcyx Cabanis & Heine 1863CC10; Chrysococcyginae]
Chrysococcyx lucidus (Gmelin 1788)BKB15, CC10 [=Cuculus lucidusCC10, Chalcites lucidusCC10, Chalcococcyx lucidusHD09, *Lamprococcyx lucidusCC10]
Chrysococcyx lucidus lucidus (Gmelin 1788) [incl. Cuculus nitens Forster in Lichtenstein 1844, Lamprococcyx lucidus australis Mathews 1916]CC10
Chrysococcyx lucidus plagosus Latham 1802CC10 [=Chalcites lucidus plagosusWS48, Chalcococcyx plagosusS13, Lamprococcyx plagosusB45; incl. Chrysococcyx plagosus carteri Mathews 1912WS48, Cuculus chalcitesCC10, *Chalcites chalcitesCC10]
Chrysococcyx minutillus minutillus [=Chalcites malayanus minutillus; incl. Chr. minutillus perplexus Mathews 1912]WS48
Eudynamys scolopaceus cyanocephala (Latham 1801)WS48 [=Cuculus cyanocephalusWS48; incl. E. orientalis subcyanocephalus Mathews 1912WS48, E. scolopacea subcyanocephalaM03]
*Heteroscenes pallidus (Latham 1802)CC10 [=Columba pallidaCC10, Cacomantis pallidusBKB15, Cuculus pallidusCC10; incl. Heteroscenes occidentalis Cabanis & Heine 1864WS48]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[B45] Boehm, E. F. 1945. Bird migration in South Australia. South Australian Naturalist 23 (2): 2–3.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.
[D66] Dohrn, H. 1866. Synopsis of the birds of Ilha do Principe, with some remarks on their habits and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324–332.
[HD09] Hutton, F. W., & J. Drummond. 1909. The Animals of New Zealand: An account of the Dominion’s air-breathing vertebrates 3rd ed. Whitcombe and Tombs Limited.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[J06] Johnstone, R. E. 2006. The birds of Gag Island, Western Papuan islands, Indonesia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 23 (2): 115–132.
[M-PG70] Mackworth-Praed, C. W., & C. H. B. Grant. 1970. African Handbook of Birds ser. 3 vol. 1. Birds of West Central and Western Africa. Longman: London.
Mason, I. J. 1997. Cuculidae. In: Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 37.2. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae) pp. 219–254. CSIRO Publishers.
[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.
[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 2. Blandford Press: London.
[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX.—Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a, 7: 369–438.
[S13] Sarasin, F. 1913. Die Vögel Neu-Caledoniens und der Loyalty-Inseln. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 1 pp. 1–78, pls 1–3. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.