A coucal is one of about 30
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s in the
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 ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
. All of them belong in the subfamily Centropodinae and the genus ''Centropus''. Unlike many
Old World cuckoos, coucals are not
brood parasites, though they do have their own reproductive peculiarity: all members of the genus are (to varying degrees) sex-role reversed, so that the smaller male provides most of the parental care. At least one coucal species, the
black coucal
The black coucal (''Centropus grillii'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide distribution in Africa south of the Sahara.
Description
The male black coucal is in length while the female is , otherwise they are similar i ...
, is
polyandrous
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wive ...
. Some species (''Centropus phasianinus'') have the male investing more in incubation and parental care.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Centropus'' was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist.
Illiger was the son of a merchant in Braunschweig. He studied under the entomologist Johann Hellwig, and later worked on the zoological colle ...
. 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 specime ...
was subsequently designated as the
Senegal coucal by
George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother ...
in 1840. The genus name combines 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 p ...
''kentron'' meaning "spur" or "spike" with ''pous'' meaning "foot".
Description
Many coucals have a long claw on their hind toe (hallux). The feet have minute spurs and this is responsible for the German term for coucals ''Sporenkuckucke''. The common name is perhaps derived from the French ''coucou'' and ''alouette'' (for the long lark like claw). (Cuvier, in Newton 1896) The length of the claw can be about 68-76% of the tarsus length in the African black coucal ''C. grillii'' and lesser coucal ''C. bengalensis''. Only the short-toed coucal ''C. rectunguis'' is an exception with the hallux claw of only 23% of the tarsus length. Thread like feather structures (elongated sheaths of the growing feathers that are sometimes termed trichoptiles) are found on the head and neck of hatchlings and can be as long as 20mm. Nestlings can look spiny.
Many are opportunistic predators, ''Centropus phasianus'' is known to attack birds caught in mist nets while white-browed coucals ''Centropus superciliosus'' are attracted to smoke from grass fires where they forage for insects and small mammals escaping from the fire.
[
Coucals generally make nests inside dense vegetation and they usually have the top covered but some species have the top open. Pheasant coucal ''Centropus phasianinus'', greater coucal ''C. sinensis'' and Madagascar coucal ''C. toulou'' sometimes build an open nest while some species always build open nests (the bay coucal ''C. celebensis'')][
Some coucal species have been seen to fly while carrying their young.]
Species
The genus contains 29 species:
* Buff-headed coucal, ''Centropus milo''
* White-necked coucal
The white-necked coucal or pied coucal (''Centropus ateralbus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest
Tropical and subtr ...
or pied coucal, ''Centropus ateralbus''
* Ivory-billed coucal or greater black coucal, ''Centropus menbeki''
* Biak coucal, ''Centropus chalybeus''
* Rufous coucal
The rufous coucal (''Centropus unirufus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.
It is found in Luzon and proximate islands in the Philippines.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
It is threatened by ha ...
, ''Centropus unirufus''
* Green-billed coucal
The green-billed coucal (''Centropus chlororhynchos'') is a member of the cuckoos. It is endemic to Sri Lanka's wet zone and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as the small population declined due to forest destruction and fragmentation ...
, ''Centropus chlororhynchos''
* Black-faced coucal
The black-faced coucal (''Centropus melanops'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf fo ...
, ''Centropus melanops''
* Black-hooded coucal
The black-hooded coucal (''Centropus steerii'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to Mindoro in the Philippines and is one of the most endangered birds in the country. It is threatened by habitat loss and trapping.
...
, ''Centropus steerii''
* Short-toed coucal
The short-toed coucal (''Centropus rectunguis'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.
It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tr ...
, ''Centropus rectunguis''
* Bay coucal
The bay coucal (''Centropus celebensis'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to Indonesia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSM ...
, ''Centropus celebensis''
* Gabon coucal
The Gabon coucal (''Centropus anselli'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is mainly found in Gabon but also occurs in neighboring areas of Cameroon, Angola, the Central African Republic, the western Congo Basin and Equatorial ...
, ''Centropus anselli''
* Black-throated coucal, ''Centropus leucogaster''
* Senegal coucal, ''Centropus senegalensis''
* Blue-headed coucal, ''Centropus monachus''
* Coppery-tailed coucal, ''Centropus cupreicaudus''
* White-browed coucal
The white-browed coucal or lark-heeled cuckoo (''Centropus superciliosus''), is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa. It inhabits areas with thick cover afforded by rank undergrowth and scrub, including ...
, ''Centropus superciliosus''
* Burchell's coucal, ''Centropus burchelli''
* Sunda coucal, ''Centropus nigrorufus''
* Greater coucal
The greater coucal or crow pheasant (''Centropus sinensis''), is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. A widespread resident in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is divided into several subspeci ...
, ''Centropus sinensis''
* Malagasy coucal or Madagascar coucal, ''Centropus toulou''
* Goliath coucal, ''Centropus goliath''
* Black coucal
The black coucal (''Centropus grillii'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide distribution in Africa south of the Sahara.
Description
The male black coucal is in length while the female is , otherwise they are similar i ...
, ''Centropus grillii''
* Philippine coucal, ''Centropus viridis''
* Lesser coucal, ''Centropus bengalensis''
* Violaceous coucal, ''Centropus violaceus''
* Black-billed coucal or lesser black coucal, ''Centropus bernsteini''
* Kai coucal
The Kai coucal (''Centropus spilopterus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.
It is endemic to the Kai Islands of Indonesia. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the pheasant coucal
The pheasant coucal (''Centropus phasianinu ...
, ''Centropis spilopterus''
* Pheasant coucal
The pheasant coucal (''Centropus phasianinus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Timor and New Guinea.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical man ...
, ''Centropus phasianinus''
* Andaman coucal or brown coucal, ''Centropus andamanensis''
A fossil species, '' Centropus colossus,'' is known from the Quaternary-aged Fossil Cave
Fossil Cave (5L81), formerly known as The Green Waterhole, is a cave in the Limestone Coast region of south-eastern South Australia. It is located in the gazetted locality of Tantanoola about north-west of the city of Mount Gambier, only ...
, Tantanoola, South Australia
Tantanoola is a town in regional South Australia. The name is derived from the aboriginal word ''tentunola'', which means ''boxwood / brushwood hill or camp''. ''Tantanoola'' was originally named 'Lucieton' by Governor Jervois after his daughte ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q657775
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