Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo

Images ©:
©Bob Winters

Chalcites basalis

Small bird, up to 18 cm. Olive-brown above. Dark brown eyestripe, with white eyebrown stripe above and both curve down the sides of the neck. Throat is white with fine dark mottling. Underbody is white to cream with dark brown barring at the sides, with the bars joining in the middle on the upper breast only. The undertail is grey with brown and white barring at the tip and side. Tail is edged rufous (orange-brown) and the undertail is rufous when spread.

Details
Type
Bird
Group
Animals
Cuckoo
Biology

Breeding season: July to February, in the south. It is a nest parasite, like many other cuckoos. The female lays one egg in the host's nest. This egg can sometimes resemble the host's eggs in markings. The female cuckoo removes one of the host's eggs, or the newly hatched young cuckoo ejects the eggs or nestlings of the host. The host parents incubate the cuckoo egg and feed the young, up to several weeks after it fledges.
Distinctive Markings

Pale scaling and a bronze to green sheen on the back and upper tail.
Taxonomy
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Cuculiformes
Family
Cuculidae
Genus
Chalcites
Species
basalis

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

The Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo is very noisy during mating season but are mainly silent during other times of the year.

Interesting Facts
Diet

Carnivore. Feeds mostly on insects and larvae, especially hairy caterpillars.
Habitat

Found in many wooded habitats with a range of understoreys from grasses to shrubs or heath.
Native Status
Native to Australia
Audio
Sounds
Descending, high-pitched whistle "fee-ew" or "tseeeeuw". Also "chirrup" like a sparrow or pipit.