Coccyzidae was a family of birds comprising 18 new world cuckoos, ranging from Canada to Argentina. The family consists of the genera Coccyzus, Coccyua, and Piaya. [1] This family is today typically subsumed within Cuculidae, e.g. by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).[2]

Coccyzidae
Coccyzus americanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Genus: Coccyzidae

Of those whose habits are known, their main diet is insects. They tend to nest in trees and can lay up to 7 eggs (Coccyzus) although Saurothura only lays 2–3. Only one of the family, the Black-billed cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus (Wilson), is known to be a brood parasite.

Both the yellow-billed cuckoo and the black-billed cuckoo are vagrants to Europe.[3]

References

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  1. ^ del Hoyo, J.; et al., eds. (1997). Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 4. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
  2. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  3. ^ The Birds of the Western Palearctic [Abridged]. OUP. 1997. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.