NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Dark-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus melacoryphus Vieillot, 1817
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Dark-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus melacoryphus, Galapagos.
taken by Putney mark · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The dark-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus melacoryphus) is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is regularly found in every mainland South American country except Chile plus the Galápagos Islands. It has also occurred as a vagrant in Chile and several other countries and islands.
Wikipedia contributors, Dark-billed cuckoo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:07:39.934280+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Coccyzus melacoryphus Vieillot, 1817
- Name authority
- Vieillot, 1817
- Common name
- Dark-billed Cuckoo
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Coccyzus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusCoccyzus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesCoccyzus melacoryphus Vieillot, 1817
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Coccyzus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pearly-breasted CuckooCoccyzus euleri Cabanis, 1873 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cocos CuckooCoccyzus ferrugineus Gould, 1843 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray-capped CuckooCoccyzus lansbergi Bonaparte, 1850 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cuban Lizard-cuckooCoccyzus merlini (d'Orbigny, 1839) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus (A. Wilson, 1811) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mangrove CuckooCoccyzus minor (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
South America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554781 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5ZHPJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.