''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 somet ...

s 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 someti ...

. The name is from the

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

κακομαντις (''kakomantis'') meaning "prophet of evil". Most species 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 natural history, 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 Christi ...

. He did not specify a

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

; this was subsequently designated as ''Cuculus flavus''

Gmelin Gmelin may refer to: * Karl Christian Gmelin, Carl Christian Gmelin (1762–1837), German botanist, author of ''Flora Badensis, Alsatica et confinium regionum cis- et transrhenania'' (1806) * Charles Gmelin (1872–1950), British Olympic athlete * ...

, a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Cuculus merulinus''

Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

(the plaintive cuckoo). The genus name is from the

''kakomantis'' meaning "prophet of doom". Müller explained that local people on the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

thought of these species as "birds of misfortune" due to their mournful calls and their frequent presence in cemeteries.

Species

The genus contains 11 species: *

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, ''Cacomantis sonneratii'' * Plaintive cuckoo, ''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'' * Sunda brush cuckoo or rusty-breasted cuckoo, ''Cacomantis sepulcralis'' * Sulawesi brush cuckoo, ''Cacomantis virescens'' (split from ''C. sepulcralis'') *

Sahul brush cuckoo The Sahul brush cuckoo (''Cacomantis variolosus''), formerly known as the brush cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo family. It is native to Malesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northern and eastern Australia. It is a grey-brown bird with a ...

or brush cuckoo, ''Cacomantis variolosus'' * Manus brush cuckoo, ''Cacomantis blandus'' (split from ''C. variolosus'') * Solomons brush cuckoo, ''Cacomantis addendus'' (split form ''C. variolosus'') * Moluccan brush cuckoo or Moluccan cuckoo, ''Cacomantis aeruginosus'' The

pallid cuckoo The pallid cuckoo (''Heteroscenes pallidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Heteroscenes''. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guine ...

(''Heteroscenes pallidus'') and the

white-crowned cuckoo The white-crowned cuckoo or white-crowned koel (''Caliechthrus leucolophus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Cacomantis'' but is now the only species placed in the genus ''Caliechthrus''. It ...

(''Caliechthrus leucolophus'') were formerly placed in this genus. They are now each placed in their own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus.

References

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