Cuckoos, Roadrunners, and Anis

(Cuculidae)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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The family Cuculidae (Cuckoos, Anis, and Roadrunners) is a large and varied family of birds found nearly worldwide. Most species feed primarily on insects, although the Greater Roadrunner also captures reptiles, mice,and scorpions in addition to insects. The typical cuckoos are secretive birds and hide in tangles of brush and shrub. There are 143 species of the family worldwide. Six species occur in North America north of Mexico, 5 of them in the eastern United States.

Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythopthalmus

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus

Mangrove Cuckoo

Coccyzus minor

Greater Roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus

Smooth-billed Ani

Crotophaga ani