Cuculus

Belongs within: Cuculinae.

Cuculus is a genus of Old World cuckoos with dark grey or black heads and upperparts and usually a barred breast. Many species exhibit a red variant in which grey areas are replaced with a chestnut coloration. The black cuckoo C. clamosus of Africa is, as the vernacular name indicates, a solid black colour. The common cuckoo C. canorus is widespread across Eurasia when breeding, migrating southwards to southern Asia and Africa.

<==Cuculus Linnaeus 1758CC10
    |--+--C. fugaxJT12
    |  |    |--C. f. fugaxVP89
    |  |    `--C. f. nisicolorVP89
    |  `--+--C. sparverioidesJT12
    |     `--C. variusJT12
    `--+--C. clamosusJT12
       `--+--C. solitarius Stephens 1815JT12, M-PG70 [incl. C. solitarius magnirostris Amadon 1953M-PG70]
          `--+--+--C. crassirostrisJT12
             |  `--C. poliocephalusBKB15
             `--+--C. micropterusJT12
                `--+--+--C. gularis Stephens 1815JT12, M-PG70 [=C. canorus gularisRN72b]
                   |  `--C. rochii Hartlaub 1862JT12, M-PG70 [=C. poliocephalus rochiiRN72a]
                   `--+--*C. canorus Linnaeus 1758CC10, BKB15, ME04
                      |    |--C. c. canorusVP89
                      |    |--C. c. bakeriRN72b
                      |    |--C. c. bangsi Oberholser 1919M-PG70
                      |    |--C. c. fallaxVP89
                      |    |--C. c. johanseniRN72b
                      |    |--C. c. kleinschmidtiRN72b
                      |    |--C. c. subtelephonusRN72b
                      |    `--C. c. telephonus Heine 1863M-PG70
                      `--+--C. saturatus Hodgson 1843BKB15, CC10
                         `--C. vagansJT12 [=Hierococcyx vagansBKB15]

Cuculus incertae sedis:
  C. cafer Lichtenstein 1793M-PG70
    |--C. c. cafer [incl. Coccystes caroli, Cu. jacksoni, Cu. gabonensis mabirae]M-PG70
    `--C. c. gabonensis Lafresnaye 1853M-PG70
  C. cineraceusR66
  C. csarnotanus Jánossy 1979M02
  C. inornatusR87
  C. lepidusAP21 [=C. poliocephalus lepidusW72]
  C. niger Linnaeus 1758L58
  C. optatus Gould 1845 [=C. saturatus optatus; incl. C. horsfieldi Moore 1858, C. saturatus horsfieldi]CC10
  C. rubiculus Swains. 1837F43
  C. vetula Linnaeus 1758L58

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.

[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 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[F43] Fraser, L. 1843. On Cricetomys gambianus and various species of birds from western Africa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 51–53.

[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.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[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.

[ME04] Mayr, G., & P. G. P. Ericson. 2004. Evidence for a sister group relationship between the Madagascan mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the cuckoos (Cuculidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 84 (1–2): 1–17.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[R66] Ramsay, E. P. 1866. Notes on the most frequent fosterparents of the cuckoos of Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 571–577.

[R87] Ramsay, E. P. 1887. List of Western Australian birds collected by Mr. Cairn, and Mr. W. H. Boyer-Bower, at Derby and its vicinity, with remarks on the species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1085–1100.

[RN72a] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds) 1972a. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. London, Blandford Press.

[RN72b] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972b. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 2. Blandford Press: London.

[VP89] Viney, C., & K. Phillipps. 1989. Birds of Hong Kong 5^th ed. Government Printer: Hong Kong.

[W72] Wells, D. R. 1972. The genus Cuculus: two amendments to the ‘Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan’. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (1): 179–185.