Oriental Cuckoo / Cuculus optatus
WBN 
Oriental Cuckoo
SCI Name:
Protonym: Cuculus optatus Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt13 no.145 p.18
Taxonomy: Cuculiformes / Cuculidae / Cuculus
Taxonomy Code: oricuc2
Type Locality: Port Essington, Northern Territory.
Author: Gould
Publish Year: 1845
IUCN Status:
DEFINITIONS
CUCULUS
(Cuculidae; Ϯ Common Cuckoo C. canorus) L. cuculus cuckoo. "52. CUCULUS. Rostrum teretiusculum. Nares margine prominulæ. Lingua sagittata, plana, integra." (Linnaeus 1758); "Cuculus Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 110. Type, by tautonymy, Cuculus canorus Linné (Cuculus, prebinomial specific name in synonymy.)" (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 14). Linnaeus's Cuculus comprised eight species (C. canorus, C. Persa, C. Vetula, C. glandarius, C. scolopaceus, C. niger, C. americanus, C. auratus). Together with the arrival of the Barn Swallow, the distinctive calls of the Common Cuckoo are traditionally and widely regarded as the harbingers of springtime throughout Europe.
Var. Cucculus, Cuculis, Cuculuc.
Synon. Coccyx, Edolius, Melanococcyx, Multivoculus, Nicoclarius, Notococcyx, Surniculoides, Versiculus.
optata / optatus
L. optatus welcome, wished for < optare to choose, to desire.
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, mispellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
