Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo

Scientific Name: Chrysococcyx basalis

Description: Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo has an olive-brown back, with incomplete pale stripes across the chest and a brown stripe on the face. If you have binoculars, you can note the bronze-green sheen on the wings, a white eyebrow and rufous coloured outer tail feathers.

In late winter and spring, the call of the Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo can be heard as the bird sits perched near the top of a tree. The call is a repeated note with a descending inflection. Like other cuckoos, females lay a single egg in the nest of the host. Males have a call described as “see-you, see-you” with a downward slur. Some birds overwinter.

They feed mainly on insects and their larvae, especially hairy caterpillars.

Type: Bird
Where to find: Forests and woodlands, particularly dry forests, and grasslands with scattered dead trees, including saltmarsh.
Size: 20cm