Coua

Couas are large, mostly terrestrial birds of the cuckoo family, endemic to the island of Madagascar.

Couas
Coquerel's coua (Coua coquereli)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Coua
Schinz, 1821
Type species
Cuculus madagascariensis[1]
Gmelin, 1788
Species

See text

     range of genus

Couas are reminiscent of African turacos when walking along tree branches, and they likewise feature brightly coloured bare skin around the eyes. Some resemble coucals in their habit of clambering through jungle while foraging, while the arboreal species move between tree canopies with gliding flight. Four species have been recorded in rainforests while the remaining six are found in the dry forests of western and southern Madagascar.

They have large feet, with a reversible third toe like all cuckoos. Their long tibia suggest a relationship with the Carpococcyx ground-cuckoos of Asia, a genus with similar nestlings. Consequently, they are sometimes united in the subfamily Couinae.[2] Couas build their own nests and lay white eggs. Couas' calls are a short series of evenly-spaced notes, which are sometimes answered by other individuals.

Taxonomy

The genus Coua was erected by the Swiss naturalist Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1821 with the Cuculus madagascariensis (a synonym of Cuculus gigas) as the type species.[3][4] The name is from koa, the Malagasy word for the couas.[5]

Species

There are nine extant species placed in the genus:[6]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Coua cursorRunning couaMadagascar.
Coua gigasGiant couawestern and southern Madagascar
Coua coquereliCoquerel's couaMadagascar.
Coua serrianaRed-breasted couaMadagascar.
Coua reynaudiiRed-fronted couaMadagascar.
Coua ruficepsRed-capped couaMadagascar.
Coua cristataCrested couaMadagascar.
Coua verreauxiVerreaux's couaMadagascar
Coua caeruleaBlue couaMadagascar.

Fossils and extinct species

References
  1. "Cuculidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. Payne, Robert B., and Karen Klitz (1991). The Cuckoos. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-19-850213-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Cuvier, Georges; Schinz, Heinrich Rudolf (1821). Das Thierreich, eingetheilt nach dem Bau der Thiere als Grundlage ihrer Naturgeschichte und der vergleichenden Anatomie (in German). Vol. 1. Stuttgart und Tübingen: J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. p. 661.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 64.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  7. Goodman & Ravoavy; Smithsonian Institution (1993). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 106. Smithsonian Libraries. [Washington : Biological Society of Washington]. pp. 26–33.
  • Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Sinclair and Langrand, 1998. ISBN 1-86872-035-7
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