The Crotophaginae are a small subfamily, within the cuckoo family Cuculidae, of four gregarious bird species occurring in the Americas. They were previously classified as a family Crotophagidae.
The subfamily is notable for the development of cooperative breeding where several females lay eggs in a communal nest. It contains the three anis and the guira cuckoo.
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae (/kjuːˈkjuːlɪdiː/ kew-KEW-lih-dee) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes (/kjuːˈkjuːlɪfɔːrmiːz/ kew-KEW-lih-for-meez). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae, respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.
The cuckoos are generally medium-sized, slender birds. Most species live in trees, though a sizeable minority are ground-dwelling. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution; the majority of species are tropical. Some species are migratory. The cuckoos feed on insects, insect larvae, and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Some species (for example, the majority of cuckoo species living in Eurasia) are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species and giving rise to the terms "cuckoo's egg" and "cuckold" as metaphors. However, most species raise their own young.