Cacomantis is a genus of cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. The name is from the Ancient Greek κακομαντις (kakomantis) meaning "prophet of evil". Most species have a round nostril and are mainly in brown and gray colours. The tails are graduated and barred. The bars are transverse in sonneratii and oblique in all others.[1]
The genus Cacomantis was introduced in 1843 by the German naturalist Salomon Müller.[2] He did not specify a type species; this was subsequently designated as Cuculus flavus Gmelin, a junior synonym of Cuculus merulinus Scopoli (the plaintive cuckoo).[3] [4] The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kakomantis meaning "prophet of doom".[5] Müller explained that local people on the Maluku Islands thought of these species as "birds of misfortune" due to their mournful calls and their frequent presence in cemeteries.[2]
The genus contains 11 species:[6]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cacomantis castaneiventris | Chestnut-breasted cuckoo | New Guinea and Cape York peninsula | |
| Cacomantis flabelliformis | Fan-tailed cuckoo | Australia and Melanesia | |
| Cacomantis sonneratii | Banded bay cuckoo | Indomalaya | |
| Cacomantis merulinus | Plaintive cuckoo | Southeast Asia | |
| Cacomantis passerinus | Grey-bellied cuckoo | South Asia | |
| -Â | Cacomantis sepulcralis | Sunda brush cuckoo | Malesia |
| -Â | Cacomantis virescens | Sulawesi brush cuckoo | Sulawesi |
| Cacomantis variolosus | Sahul brush cuckoo | Southeast Asia to Victoria and Solomon Islands | |
| -Â | Cacomantis blandus | Manus brush cuckoo | Ninigo and Admiralty Islands |
| -Â | Cacomantis addendus | Solomons brush cuckoo | Solomon Islands archipelago |
| Cacomantis aeruginosus | Moluccan brush cuckoo | Moluccas | |
The pallid cuckoo (Heteroscenes pallidus) and the white-crowned cuckoo (Caliechthrus leucolophus) were formerly placed in this genus. They are now each placed in their own monotypic genus.[6]
