The Red-capped coua is a bird in the Cuculidae (cuckoo) family with long legs and a long tail (42 cm in total). The species belongs to the coua genus, (that is endemic to Madagascar). It forages on the ground and runs away when threatened, rather than flying. It exists in two varieties, some consider these to be two subspecies, some, e.g. Birdlife International and IUCN, consider them as good species: Coua ruficeps ruficeps, which occurs in the lowlands of northwestern Madagascar (and to which this bird belongs) and Coua ruficeps olivaceiceps (with a greenish cap) which occurs in the lowlands of southwestern Madagascar.