Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo
A species of Chrysococcyx Scientific name : Chrysococcyx basalis Genus : Chrysococcyx
Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo, A species of Chrysococcyx
Botanical name: Chrysococcyx basalis
Genus: Chrysococcyx
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Francesco Veronesi , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis) is a small cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Its size averages 22g and is distinguished by its green and bronze iridescent colouring on its back and incomplete brown barring from neck to tail. What distinguishes the Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo from other bronze-cuckoos is its white eyebrow and brown eye stripe. The Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo is common throughout Australia preferring the drier open woodlands away from forested areas. 
Size
17 cm
Nest Placement
Tree
Feeding Habits
Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo primarily consumes insects, foraging on leaves and branches or capturing prey mid-flight. During breeding, horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo exhibit courtship feeding behaviors. Uniquely, horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo are brood parasites, laying eggs in hosts like fairy-wrens.
Habitat
The horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo typically inhabits a variety of arid and semi-arid environments, including open woodlands, scrublands, and coastal saltmarshes. These birds are often found in regions characterized by vegetation such as mulga and spinifex, reflecting their adaptability to drier, open spaces.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The main diet of the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is insects and they are nomadic, travelling to different regions of Australia to breed and find food. Small insects are taken from leaves, branches, caught on the wing and in breeding season, Horsfield's bronze cuckoos feed each other in a courtship ritual. The Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo is known as a brood parasite, this means that they lay their eggs in a host species nest. They mainly parasitise the fairy-wrens in the genus Malurus. It has been well documented that the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) and the splendid fairy-wren (Malurus splendens) are the two main species to bear host to the Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo, although they may also parasitise other small Passeriformes including thornbills, warblers and scrub-wrens that can be utilised as a secondary host in certain locations. Although the behavioural attributes of a host species may play a role in parasitism, it is thought that the female selects its host through imprinting, remembering the species that it was raised by and ultimately using that species to raise its brood.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Cuckoos and Relatives Family
Cuckoos Genus
Chrysococcyx Species
Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo 
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