Oriental cuckoo [SEP] parent taxon
Oriental cuckoo
The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfields cuckoo ("Cuculus optatus") is a bird belonging to the genus "Cuculus" in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo ("C. saturatus") with the name Oriental cuckoo used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that they should be treated as a separate species. The binomial name "Cuculus horsfieldi" has often been used instead of "Cuculus optatus" but is now usually considered to be a
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family of birds, Cuculidae, 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 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 cuckoos are generally medium-sized slender birds. Most species live in trees,