Cuckoos and their Relatives

The order Cuculigormes contains three rather different divergent families that are sometimes placed in their own orders; the family of cuckoos, roadrunners, anis, and their relatives (Cuculidae); the family of touracos (Musophagidae); and the family of the South American hoatzin (Opisthocomidae). Because of the gross similarities between Archaeopteryx and some cuckoos, touracos, and hoatzin, some taxonomists consider Cuculiformes among the most primitive of living avian orders.

Birds of the cuckoo family have yoke-toed feet -- two toes face forward and two face to the rear. Female cuckoos often deposit their eggs in the nest of other birds, a trait called brood parasitism.

Although the cuckoo family is distributed worldwide, the touraco family lives only in Africa. The Touraco family contains some 20 species of large, long-tailed, tree-dwelling birds.

The hoatzin lives in woodlands along Amazonian river banks. It is a long-tailed, chicken-like bird that exists on a diet of leaves and fruit.