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
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
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 ten extant species placed in the genus:^[6]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Coua cursor	Running coua	Madagascar.
	Coua gigas	Giant coua	western and southern Madagascar
	Coua coquereli	Coquerel's coua	Madagascar.
	Coua serriana	Red-breasted coua	Madagascar.
	Coua reynaudii	Red-fronted coua	Madagascar.
	Coua ruficeps	Red-capped coua	Madagascar.
	Coua olivaceiceps	Olive-capped coua	Madagascar.
	Coua cristata	Crested coua	Madagascar.
	Coua verreauxi	Verreaux's coua	Madagascar
	Coua caerulea	Blue coua	Madagascar.

Fossils and extinct species

• Ancient coua, Coua primaeva – prehistoric
• Bertha's coua, Coua berthae – only known from Holocene fossil remains^[7]
• Delalande's coua, or the snail-eating coua Coua delalandei – extinct (late 19th century)