The Senegal coucal (Centropus senegalensis) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners and the anis. It is a medium-sized member of its genus and is found in lightly-wooded country and savannah in central and southern Africa.
Taxonomy
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description and an illustration of the Senegal coucal in the fourth volume of his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name Le coucou de Sénégal and the Latin name Cuculus Senegalensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson in his Ornithologie. The Senegal coucal is now one of around 30 species placed in the genus Centropus that was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek kentron meaning "spur" or "spike" with pous meaning "foot".
Three subspecies are recognised:
Status
This is an abundant species, which advertises its presence with a loud ook-ook-ook call. It has a very wide range and no particular threats have been identified so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".