Most gregarious of the cuckoos are the anis of the American tropics. The groove-billed ani, from 12 to 14 in. Anis nest colonially, several females together laying as many as 25 eggs in the same nest, and they may breed at any time of the year. Of the ground cuckoos, the roadrunner, or chaparral cock, of the southwest deserts is best known. It feeds mostly on small snakes and lizards, which it pounds to death with its heavy bill and swallows headfirst.
Roadrunners are weak fliers and nonmigratory.
Also included in the cuckoo family are the coucals, medium to large in size, slow-flying, mostly terrestrial birds of the tropics from Africa to Australia, e.g., the black concal, Centropus grilli. Cuckoos are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Cuculiformes, family Cuculidae. Click here to see documents from Electric Library, a pay service. Listing from Electric Library , a pay service. Copyright 2001 Infonautics Corporation .