''Cacomantis'' is a genus of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

in the family

Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

. The genus name is derived from the Greek ''kakos'' meaning evil or ill-boding and ''mantis'' for prophet and is derived from their association with "rains" being supposed to be predicted as also ill fortune and bad weather. Most of them have a round nostril and are mainly in brown and gray colours. The tails are graduated and barred. The bars are transverse in ''sonneratii'' and oblique in all others.Payne, RB (2005). The Cuckoos. Oxford University Press. p. 422

Taxonomy

The genus ''Cacomantis'' was introduced in 1843 by the German naturalist

Salomon Müller Salomon Müller (7 April 1804 – 29 December 1864) was a German naturalist. He was born in Heidelberg, and died in Freiburg im Breisgau. Müller was the son of a saddler in Heidelberg. Along with Heinrich Boie and Heinrich Christian Macklot, he ...

with the

plaintive cuckoo The plaintive cuckoo (''Cacomantis merulinus'') is a species of bird belonging to the genus ''Cacomantis'' in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is native to Asia, from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia. Description The plaintive cuckoo is fai ...

as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The genus name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''kakomantis'' meaning "prophet of doom".

Species

The genus contains ten species: *

Pallid cuckoo The pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 cm ...

, ''Cacomantis pallidus'' *

White-crowned cuckoo The white-crowned cuckoo or white-crowned koel (''Cacomantis leucolophus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was originally described by Salomon Müller as ''Cuculus leucolophus''. It was later placed in the monotypic genus ''Ca ...

, ''Cacomantis leucolophus *

Chestnut-breasted cuckoo The chestnut-breasted cuckoo (''Cacomantis castaneiventris'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical ...

, ''Cacomantis castaneiventris'' *

Fan-tailed cuckoo The fan-tailed cuckoo (''Cacomantis flabelliformis'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Taxonomy Six subspecies have been recogni ...

, ''Cacomantis flabelliformis'' *

Banded bay cuckoo The banded bay cuckoo or bay-banded cuckoo (''Cacomantis sonneratii'') is a species of small cuckoo found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Like others in the genus they have a round nostril. They are usually founded in well wooded a ...

, ''Cacomantis sonneratii'' *

Plaintive cuckoo The plaintive cuckoo (''Cacomantis merulinus'') is a species of bird belonging to the genus ''Cacomantis'' in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is native to Asia, from India, Nepal and China to Indonesia. Description The plaintive cuckoo is fai ...

, ''Cacomantis merulinus'' *

Grey-bellied cuckoo The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo (''Cacomantis passerinus'') is a cuckoo with widespread occurrence throughout Asia. Description The grey-bellied cuckoo is one of the smaller cuckoos, at a total length of about 23 cm. ...

, ''Cacomantis passerinus'' *

Brush cuckoo The brush cuckoo (''Cacomantis variolosus'') is a member of the cuckoo family. The brush cuckoo is native to Malesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northern and eastern Australia. It is a grey-brown bird with a buff breast. Its call is a ...

, ''Cacomantis variolosus'' * Rusty-breasted cuckoo, ''Cacomantis sepulcralis'' *

Moluccan cuckoo The Moluccan cuckoo (''Cacomantis aeruginosus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is native to the Maluku Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane ...

, ''Cacomantis aeruginosus''

References

Cuculidae Bird genera Taxa named by Salomon Müller Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cuculiformes-stub