Cuckoos
Order: Cuculiformes. Family: Cuculidae
The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. Unlike the cuckoo species of the Old World, North American cuckoos are not brood parasites. There are about 138 species worldwide and 4 species which occur in Ireland.
| Common name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Great Spotted Cuckoo | Clamator glandarius | (A) |
| Common Cuckoo | Cuculus canorus | |
| Black-billed Cuckoo | Coccyzus erythropthalmus | (A) |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | Coccyzus americanus | (A) |
Read more about this topic: List Of Birds Of Ireland
Famous quotes containing the word cuckoos:
“Hark, hark, with what a pretty throat
Poor robin-redbreast tunes his note;
Hark, how the jolly cuckoos sing
Cuckoo—to welcome in the spring!
Cuckoo—to welcome in the spring!”
—John Lyly (1553–1606)
“Clandestine steps upon imagined stairs
Climb through the night, because his cuckoos call.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)