cuckoo

en-noun

cuckoo (countable and uncountable, plural cuckoos)

From Middle English cokkou, probably from Old French cucu (whence French coucou); ultimately onomatopoeic of the song of the male Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), perhaps via Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”). Displaced native Old English ġēac (Middle English ȝek (“cuckoo”)).

He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo, / By the bad voice.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

Cuculus canorus
Cuculus canorus#Translingual

Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae, famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially a common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), that has a characteristic two-note call.


ani

Borrowing from Portuguese ani or Spanish aní, both from Old Tupi any.

Any bird of the genus Crotophaga in the cuckoo family.


gawk

en-verb

gawk (third-person singular simple present gawks, present participle gawking, simple past and past participle gawked)

gawks (present singular third-person)
gawking (participle present)
gawked (participle past)
gawked (past)

Perhaps from English dialectal gaw (“to stare; gawk”) + -k, as in talk, stalk, etc., ultimately from Old Norse gá (“to heed”).


roadrunner

/ˈɹəʊdˌɹʌnə/

/ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnɚ/

From road + runner, probably a calque of Spanish correcaminos (“roadrunner”), from correr (“to run”) + caminos (“roads”).

calque

Geococcyx velox
Geococcyx velox#Translingual

Geococcyx californianus
Geococcyx californianus#Translingual

Either of two species of fast-running bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family native to North and Central America, the lesser roadrunner (Geococcyx velox) and, especially, the greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).


gowk

From Middle English goke, gowke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰegʰuǵʰ- (“cuckoo”).


gowk

Origin uncertain. Likely from Middle English coke, colk (“the core or heart of an apple or onion, pith”), from Old English *colc (“the gullet, esophagus; pit of the stomach; trench, pit, gully”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulkaz, *kulukaz (“gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“to devour, swallow, gulp; throat, gullet”). Possibly a doublet of coke.


piet-my-vrou

From Afrikaans piet-my-vrou, literally ‘Peter my wife’, supposed representation of the bird’s call.

(South Africa) The red-chested cuckoo, Cuculus solitarus.


cuculine

en-adj

cuculine (comparative more cuculine, superlative most cuculine)

more cuculine (comparative)
most cuculine (superlative)

On the grassy plain below noble game, zebra and koodoo, began to appear; while Guinea fowl, and partridge, quail, green pigeon, and the cuculine bird, called in India the Malabar pheasant, became numerous.

1861, The Theological and Literary Journal, page 645:


koel

From Hindi कोयल (koyal), from Sanskrit कोकिल (kokila) which is of onomatopoeic origin.

It's a beautiful night / a koel starts up / its one weird note.

1994, Dorothy Porter, The Monkey's Mask, page 49:

A cuckoo of the genus Eudynamys, native to Asia, Australia and the Pacific.


rain crow

Coccyzus americanus
Coccyzus americanus#Translingual

The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)


malkoha

Any of the cuculine birds in the Phaenicophaeus genus, found across southern and south-east Asia.


koekoea

(New Zealand) The long-tailed cuckoo, Eudynamys taitensis, which breeds in New Zealand and migrates to the islands of the western Pacific in the winter.


yellowbill

Ceuthmochares aereus
Ceuthmochares aereus#Translingual

Ceuthmochares aereus, an African cuckoo with a heavy yellow bill.


rufous-vented ground-cuckoo

en-noun

rufous-vented ground-cuckoo (plural rufous-vented ground-cuckoos)

Neomorphus geoffroyi
Neomorphus geoffroyi#Translingual

Neomorphus geoffroyi, a large terrestrial species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family


cuculid

(zoology) Any of the family Cuculidae of near-passerine birds, the cuckoos.


coua

From French coua, from Malagasy koa, an onomatopoeia for its cry.

A terrestrial bird of the genus Coua, in the cuckoo family.


koha

Borrowed from Sinhalese කොහා (kohā, “cuckoo”), probably from Sinhalese කෝ + හඩ (kō + haḍa, “cuckoo”) or ultimately as the abbreviation of the word tells, the imitation of the chirping and trilling sound.

Our species, the Koel or Koha also belongs to this sub-family of Cuculinae. The male cuckoo is dark in colour, while its female is speckled (called the Gomara Koha).

1997, Gamini de S. G. Punchihewa, Vignettes of Far Off Things: Introducing the History, Tank Civilization, Jungle Lore, Fauna, & Flora and Adventure of the Walawe Basin, Nugegoda, Colombo, Sri Lanka: State Printing Corporation, →ISBN, page 199:

The sound of the koha is associated with the advent of the Sinhala and Tamil new year; the bird is often called the Avurudu koha—the New Year Cuckoo. The koha is an early bird, and its call is strident, plaintive, and easy to imitate. The legend has it that the koha never makes a nest of its own. It takes a free ride by laying its eggs in the crow's nest.

2006, Swarna Wickremeratne, “Festival of New Beginnings: The New Year”, in Buddha in Sri Lanka: Remembered Yesterdays, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, pages 31–32:

The adult male koels (or kohas as they are locally known) start calling in March, and are in full voice come April. Most Sri Lankans associate the call—a shrieking 'koo-Ooo' or 'ko-Haa' more penetrating than the mellifluous European cuckoo—with the start of a new year, as both the Sinhalese and the Tamils celebrate this in the middle of that month.

2010, M. G. Ratnayake, “The Koel in the Nest”, in That Blue Thing: An Engineer’s Travel, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 21:

The Koha or Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is considered the harbinger of Sinhala and Tamil New Year for its beautiful song aimed at attracting a mate.

2017 April 9, Malaka Rodrigo, “Koha’s call overseas comes from another species”, in The Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, archived from the original on 2018-06-09:

Eudynamys scolopaceus
Eudynamys scolopaceus#Translingual

(chiefly Sri Lanka) The koel (Eudynamys), a genus of cuckoos from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific with a distinctive loud call; specifically, the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus).


coucal

Any bird of the genus Centropus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae.


sirkeer

Any of several species of Asiatic cuckoos of the genus Taccocua.


crow pheasant

Centropus sinensis
Centropus sinensis#Translingual

A bird, Centropus sinensis, the greater coucal.


hawk-cuckoo

Any of the birds of several species in the genus Hierococcyx.


Asian koel

Eudynamys scolopaceus, a member of the cuckoo family of south and east Asia.


storm-bird

That noise, that awful clamour of uncouthness inexpressible, is the love-call of the storm bird!

1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 205:

channel-billed cuckoo
channel-billed cuckoo


channel-bill cuckoo

channel-bill cuckoo (plural channel-bill cuckoos)

channel-billed cuckoo
channel-billed cuckoo#English

Alternative form of channel-billed cuckoo.


channel-billed cuckoo

channel-billed cuckoo (plural channel-billed cuckoos)

The channel-bill cuckoos disturbed one another, up in the skies, shouting in a frenzy of old man's cackle.

2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 376:

Scythrops novaehollandiae
Scythrops novaehollandiae#Translingual

A large, grey cuckoo, Scythrops novaehollandiae, of Indonesia, New Guinea and northeastern Australia,


lesser roadrunner

lesser roadrunner (plural lesser roadrunners)

/ˈlɛsə(ɹ)ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnə(ɹ)/

A bird native to Central America, Geococcyx velox.


greater roadrunner

greater roadrunner (plural greater roadrunners)

/ˈɡɹeɪtə(ɹ)ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnə(ɹ)/

A bird native to North and Central America, Geococcyx californianus.

kalifornianjuoksukäki

Geococcyx californianus — see also roadrunner


pied crested cuckoo

pied crested cuckoo (plural pied crested cuckoos)


Jacobin cuckoo

Clamator jacobinus
Clamator jacobinus#Translingual

Clamator jacobinus, a bird found in Africa and Asia.


pheasant coucal

pheasant coucal (plural pheasant coucals)

Centropus phasianinus
Centropus phasianinus#Translingual

A species of coucal, Centropus phasianinus, of Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia.


Sunda coucal

Centropus nigrorufus
Centropus nigrorufus#Translingual

Centropus nigrorufus, a species of cuckoo.


common cuckoo

A species of migratory cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, inhabiting Eurasia and Africa, the male of which gives the vocalisation on which the word cuckoo is based.


mangrove cuckoo

mangrove cuckoo (plural mangrove cuckoos)

Coccyzus minor
Coccyzus minor#Translingual

Coccyzus minor, a cuckoo native to the neotropics.


drongo-cuckoo

Any bird of the genus Surniculus, found from India to the Philippines.