Cuckoo

Cuckoos Temporal range: Eocene - Holocene, 34–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fan-tailed cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Otidimorphae
Order:	Cuculiformes Wagler, 1830
Family:	Cuculidae Leach, 1819
Type genus
Cuculus Linnaeus, 1758
Genera
33 genera, see text

Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae /kjuːˈkjuːlɪdiː/ family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes /kjuːˈkjuːlɪfɔːrmiːz/.^[1][2][3] The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae, respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.

The cuckoos are generally medium-sized, slender birds. Most species live in trees, though a sizeable minority are ground-dwelling. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution; the majority of species are tropical. Some species are migratory. The cuckoos feed on insects, insect larvae, and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Some species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species and giving rise to the metaphor "cuckoo's egg", but most species raise their own young.

Cuckoos have played a role in human culture for thousands of years, appearing in Greek mythology as sacred to the goddess Hera. In Europe, the cuckoo is associated with spring, and with cuckoldry, for example in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. In India, cuckoos are sacred to Kamadeva, the god of desire and longing, whereas in Japan, the cuckoo symbolises unrequited love.