Cuckoo-shrike
Encyclopedia
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the Campephagidae family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 are small to medium-sized passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 found in the subtropical and tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

. The roughly 85 species are found in eight (or nine) genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 which comprise five distinct groups, the 'true' cuckooshrikes (Campephaga
Campephaga
Campephaga is a genus of bird in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae.It contains the following species:* Black Cuckooshrike * Western Wattled Cuckooshrike...

, Coracina
Coracina
Coracina is a large genus of bird in the Campephagidae family. A revision of this genus may be involved since the group is found to be polyphyletic in relation to other genera within the Campephagidae.It contains the following 49 species:...

, Lobotos, Pteropodocys and Campochaera) the trillers (Lalage
Lalage
-People:*Lalage, for whom the Roman poet Horace professes his love in "Integer vitae," a famous poem in Carminum liber primus*Lalage, the female lead of Poe's play Politian...

), the minivets (Pericrocotus), the flycatcher-shrikes (Hemipus). The wood-shrikes (Tephrodornis
Tephrodornis
Tephrodornis is a bird genus in the helmetshrike family Prionopidae, commonly known as the woodshrikes. They were formerly placed in the Campephagidae by some, as they are far more conventional in habitus than the rather bizarre typical helmetshrikes of genus Prionops.There are only two species:*...

) were often considered to be in this family but are probably closer to the helmetshrike
Helmetshrike
The helmetshrikes are smallish passerine bird species. These birds were included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes and cuckoo-shrikes , but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated...

s or bushshrike
Bushshrike
The bushshrikes are smallish passerine bird species. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae....

s. Another genus, Chlamydochaera, which has one species, the Black-breasted Fruithunter was often placed in this family but has now been shown to be a thrush
Thrush (bird)
The thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur worldwide.-Characteristics:Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground or eat small fruit. The smallest thrush may be the Forest Rock-thrush, at and...

 (Turdidae).

Taxonomy

Cuckooshrikes are closely related neither to the cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

s nor to the shrike
Shrike
Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits...

s; the name probably comes from the grey colour of many of the cuckooshrikes. Some of the species also bear a superficial resemblance to cuckoos, and have a similar undulating flight. The grey colouration has led to one of their other names, the greybird. In some parts of the world they have also been known as caterpillar-birds, a name derived from their diet. They are in fact thought by some to be closely related to the Old World orioles
Oriole
Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the namesake of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not related to the New World orioles, which are icterids and, belonging to the superfamily Passeroidea songbirds, are quite unrelated to the true orioles.The orioles are...

 (Oriolidae), although they differ strongly in some morphological characteristics (such as skull
Skull
The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 morphology and the arrangements of feathers on the wing).

Description

Overall the cuckooshrikes are medium to small arboreal birds, generally long and slender. The smallest species is the Small Minivet
Small Minivet
The Small Minivet, Pericrocotus cinnamomeus is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia....

 at 16 cm (6.3 in) and 6-12 grams (0.2-0.4 oz), while the largest is the South Melanesian Cuckooshrike at 35 cm (14 in) and 180 grams (6 oz). They are predominantly greyish with white and black, although the minivets are brightly coloured in red, yellow and black, and the Blue Cuckooshrike of central Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 is all-over glossy blue. The four cuckooshrikes in the genus Campephaga exhibit sexual dimorphism, with males that have glossy black plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...

 and bright red or yellow wattles, the females having more subdued olive-green plumage. The genus Coracina is not monophyletic.

Habitat

Of the 84 species of cuckooshrike, the majority are forest birds. Some species are restricted to primary forest, like the New Caledonian Cuckooshrike, others are able to use more disturbed forest. Around eleven species use much more open habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

, one Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n species, the Ground Cuckooshrike being found in open plains and scrubland with few trees.

Behaviour

The 'true' cuckooshrikes are usually found singly, in pairs, and in small family groups, whereas the minivets, flycatcher-shrikes and wood-shrikes more frequently form small flocks. There is a considerable amount of variation within the family as a whole with regards to calls, some call very infrequently and some, principally the minivets, are extremely vocal.

These are mainly insectivorous
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....

, and will take large hairy caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s. They have also been recorded eating small vertebrates, and some fruit, seeds and other plant matter.

Information about the breeding of this family is incomplete, with many species having never been studied. In all the species studied the cuckooshrikes are territorial
Territory (animal)
In ethology the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics...

; in species that do not migrate these territories are maintained year round. Cuckooshrikes are monogamous
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...

, with the pair bonds apparently lasting throughout the year. Only one instance of non-monogamous breeding has been recorded, an instance of polygyny in White-winged Triller
White-winged Triller
The White-winged Triller is one of the smaller members of the Cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is found throughout mainland Australia and possibly on the islands to the north, including New Guinea and eastern Indonesia...

s in Australia, where one male aided two females in raising their young. Several species of cuckooshrike exhibit cooperative breeding. About four blotchy white, green or blue eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

 are laid in a cup nest in a tree. Incubation is about two weeks.

Taxonomic list of Campephagidae

FAMILY: CAMPEPHAGIDAE
  • Genus Coracina
    Coracina
    Coracina is a large genus of bird in the Campephagidae family. A revision of this genus may be involved since the group is found to be polyphyletic in relation to other genera within the Campephagidae.It contains the following 49 species:...

    • Ground Cuckooshrike, Coracina maxima
    • Large Cuckooshrike, Coracina macei
    • Sunda Cuckooshrike, Coracina larvata
    • Javan Cuckooshrike, Coracina javensis
    • Slaty Cuckooshrike, Coracina schistacea
    • Wallacean Cuckooshrike, Coracina personata
    • South Melanesian Cuckooshrike, Coracina caledonica
    • North Melanesian Cuckooshrike
      North Melanesian Cuckooshrike
      The North Melanesian Cuckoo-shrike is a species of bird in the cuckoo-shrike family. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands, specifically Santa Isabel Island. It is considered by some ornithologists to be a subspecies of Coracina caledonica.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist...

      ,
      Coracina welchmani
    • Black-faced Cuckooshrike, Coracina novaehollandiae
    • Stout-billed Cuckooshrike, Coracina caeruleogrisea
    • Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina striata
      • Cebu Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina striata cebuensis - extinct (early 20th century)
    • Pied Cuckooshrike, Coracina bicolor
    • Moluccan Cuckooshrike, Coracina atriceps
    • Buru Cuckooshrike, Coracina fortis
    • Cerulean Cuckooshrike, Coracina temminckii
    • Barred Cuckooshrike, Coracina lineata
    • Boyer's Cuckooshrike, Coracina boyeri
    • White-rumped Cuckooshrike, Coracina leucopygia
    • White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina papuensis
    • Hooded Cuckooshrike, Coracina longicauda
    • Halmahera Cuckooshrike, Coracina parvula
    • Pygmy Cuckooshrike, Coracina abbotti
    • New Caledonian Cuckooshrike, Coracina analis
    • White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Coracina pectoralis
    • Blue Cuckooshrike, Coracina azurea
    • Grey Cuckooshrike, Coracina caesia
    • Grauer's Cuckooshrike, Coracina graueri
    • Madagascar Cuckooshrike, Coracina cinerea
    • Mauritius Cuckooshrike, Coracina typica
    • Reunion Cuckooshrike, Coracina newtoni
    • Cicadabird
      Cicadabird
      The Common Cicadabird , also known as the Slender-billed Cicadabird, is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands...

      ,
      Coracina tenuirostris
      • Maros Cicadabird, Coracina tenuirostris edithae - disputed; extinct (mid-20th century)
    • Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens
      • Cebu Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens altera - possibly extinct (early 20th century?)
      • Marinduque Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens deschauenseei - possibly extinct (late 20th century?)
    • Pale-shouldered Cicadabird, Coracina dohertyi
    • Sula Cicadabird
      Sula Cicadabird
      The Sula Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....

      ,
      Coracina sula
    • Kai Cicadabird
      Kai Cicadabird
      The Kai Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...

      ,
      Coracina dispar
    • Black-bibbed Cicadabird
      Black-bibbed Cicadabird
      The Black-bibbed Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines...

      ,
      Coracina mindanensis
    • Sulawesi Cicadabird
      Sulawesi Cicadabird
      The Sulawesi Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....

      ,
      Coracina morio
    • Pale Cicadabird
      Pale Cicadabird
      The Pale Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....

      ,
      Coracina ceramensis
    • Black-shouldered Cicadabird
      Black-shouldered Cicadabird
      The Black-shouldered Cicadabird is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....

      ,
      Coracina incerta
    • Grey-headed Cuckooshrike, Coracina schisticeps
    • Black Cicadabird, Coracina melas
    • Black-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina montana
    • Black-bellied Cicadabird, Coracina holopolia
    • McGregor's Cuckooshrike, Coracina mcgregori
    • Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Coracina polioptera
    • White-winged Cuckooshrike, Coracina ostenta
    • Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Coracina melaschistos
    • Lesser Cuckooshrike, Coracina fimbriata
    • Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Coracina melanoptera
  • Genus Campochaera
    • Golden Cuckooshrike, Campochaera sloetii
  • Genus Lalage
    • Black-and-white Triller
      Black-and-white Triller
      The Black-and-white Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to the Philippines.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....

      ,
      Lalage melanoleuca
    • Pied Triller
      Pied Triller
      The Pied Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.-References:...

      ,
      Lalage nigra
    • White-rumped Triller
      White-rumped Triller
      The White-rumped Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests....

      ,
      Lalage leucopygialis
    • White-shouldered Triller
      White-shouldered Triller
      The White-shouldered Triller is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus Lalage in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It is found in Indonesia and East Timor. The White-winged Triller The White-shouldered Triller (Lalage sueurii) is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus...

      ,
      Lalage sueurii
    • White-winged Triller
      White-winged Triller
      The White-winged Triller is one of the smaller members of the Cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is found throughout mainland Australia and possibly on the islands to the north, including New Guinea and eastern Indonesia...

      ,
      Lalage tricolor
    • Rufous-bellied Triller
      Rufous-bellied Triller
      The Rufous-bellied Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.-References:...

      ,
      Lalage aurea
    • White-browed Triller
      White-browed Triller
      The White-browed Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....

      ,
      Lalage moesta
    • Varied Triller
      Varied Triller
      The Varied Triller, Lalage leucomela like its better-known relative the White-winged Triller, is a smaller member of the Cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae...

      ,
      Lalage leucomela
    • Black-browed Triller
      Black-browed Triller
      The Black-browed Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....

      ,
      Lalage atrovirens
    • Samoan Triller
      Samoan Triller
      The Samoan Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Samoa.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and plantations .It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...

      ,
      Lalage sharpei
    • Polynesian Triller
      Polynesian Triller
      The Polynesian Triller is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus Lalage in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It has numerous subspecies distributed across the islands of the south-west Pacific.It is 15 to 16 cm long...

      ,
      Lalage maculosa
    • Long-tailed Triller
      Long-tailed Triller
      The Long-tailed Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu...

      ,
      Lalage leucopyga
      • Norfolk Island Triller
        Norfolk Island Triller
        The Norfolk Island Triller was a small passerine bird in the Cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the Long-tailed Triller which was endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand...

        ,
        Lalage (leucopyga) leucopyga - extinct (1976)
  • Genus Campephaga
    Campephaga
    Campephaga is a genus of bird in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae.It contains the following species:* Black Cuckooshrike * Western Wattled Cuckooshrike...

    • Petit's Cuckooshrike, Campephaga petiti
    • Black Cuckooshrike, Campephaga flava
    • Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Campephaga phoenicea
    • Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Campephaga quiscalina
    • Western Wattled Cuckooshrike, Campephaga lobata
    • Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike, Campephaga oriolina
  • Genus Pericrocotus
    • Rosy Minivet
      Rosy Minivet
      The Rosy Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.Male is distinguished from other minivets by having deep pink/light red shade in wings and tail and female having olive /olive yellow rump as against bright yellow in other minivets.Both male and female are grey above.DistributionIt...

      ,
      Pericrocotus roseus
    • Brown-rumped Minivet, Pericrocotus cantonensis
    • Ashy Minivet
      Ashy Minivet
      The Ashy Minivet is a passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the minivet genus Pericrocotus in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. While most of the minivets have shades of yellow, orange and red in their plumage, this species has only greys, whites and blacks...

      ,
      Pericrocotus divaricatus
    • Small Minivet
      Small Minivet
      The Small Minivet, Pericrocotus cinnamomeus is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia....

      ,
      Pericrocotus cinnamomeus
    • Ryūkyū Minivet
      Ryukyu Minivet
      The Ryukyu Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Japan.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....

      ,
      Pericrocotus tegimae
    • Fiery Minivet
      Fiery Minivet
      The Fiery Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand....

      ,
      Pericrocotus igneus
    • Flores Minivet
      Flores Minivet
      The Flores Minivet , also known as the Little Minivet, is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...

      ,
      Pericrocotus lansbergei
    • White-bellied Minivet
      White-bellied Minivet
      The White-bellied Minivet is a species of minivet found in India, mostly in dry deciduous forest.The species is characterized by stable population trend and extent of occurrence of more than 20 thousand km2....

      ,
      Pericrocotus erythropygius
    • Long-tailed Minivet
      Long-tailed Minivet
      The Long-tailed Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam...

      ,
      Pericrocotus ethologus
    • Short-billed Minivet
      Short-billed Minivet
      The Short-billed Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam....

      ,
      Pericrocotus brevirostris
    • Sunda Minivet
      Sunda Minivet
      The Sunda Minivet is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....

      ,
      Pericrocotus miniatus
    • Scarlet Minivet
      Scarlet Minivet
      The Scarlet Minivet, Pericrocotus flammeus is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are common resident breeding birds in forests and other well-wooded habitats including...

      ,
      Pericrocotus flammeus
    • Gray-chinned Minivet, Pericrocotus solaris
  • Genus Hemipus
    • Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
      Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
      The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a small passerine bird currently placed in the cuckoo-shrike family but possibly closer to the bushshrikes of Africa. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia...

      , Hemipus picatus
    • Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike
      Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike
      The Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a species of bird in the flycatcher-shrike genus, Hemipus. It is traditionally included in the cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is found in the Malay Peninsula and the Greater Sunda Islands, occurring in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand...

      , Hemipus hirundinaceus

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