Common Cuckoo - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Common Cuckoo (formerly European Cuckoo) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. The species' binomial name is derived from the Latin cuculus (the cuckoo) and canorus (melodious; from canere, meaning to sing). The cuckoo family gets its common name and genus name by onomatopoeia for the call of the male Common Cuckoo. The English word "cuckoo" comes from the Old French cucu and it first appears about 1240 in the poem Sumer Is Icumen In - "Summer has come in / Loudly sing, Cuckoo!" in modern English.

There are four subspecies worldwide:

• C. c. canorus, the nominate subspecies, was first described by Linnaeus in 1758. It occurs from the British Isles through Scandinavia, north Russia and Siberia to Japan in the east, and from the Pyrenees through Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, northern China and Korea. It winters in Africa and south Asia.
• C. c. bakeri, first described by Hartert in 1912, breeds in western China to the Himalayan foothills in northern India, Nepal, Myanmar, north-west Thailand and southern China. During winter it is found in Assam, East Bengal and south-east Asia.
• C. c. bangsi was first described by Oberholser in 1919 and breeds in Iberia, the Balearic Islands and north Africa, spending winter in Africa.
• C. c. subtelephonus, first described by Zarudny in 1914, breeds in central Asia from Turkestan to southern Mongolia. It migrates to southern Asia and Africa for winter.