Shining Bronze Cuckoo
Chrysococcyx lucidusAlso known as Shining Cuckoo, Pīpīwharauroa, Golden Bronze Cuckoo
Shining bronze cuckoos wear iridescent green-bronze backs and crisp black-and-white barred chests, yet they spend most of their time hidden high in leafy canopies. Females are brood parasites that slip a single egg into the domed nest of a smaller songbird, such as a grey warbler or thornbill, leaving the unsuspecting hosts to raise the demanding chick after it ejects their own young. New Zealand breeders undertake a remarkable annual migration over thousands of kilometers of open Pacific Ocean to winter in the Solomon Islands and Bismarck Archipelago.
- Birds of prey
- Domestic cats
- Tree snakes
- FamilyCuculidae
- SpeciesChrysococcyx lucidus
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
- Listen First: Follow its rising series of clear whistles, which carry far through the canopy before the bird is seen.
- Check the Midstory: Scan leafy woodland edges and tall shrubs where it perches quietly between caterpillar hunts.
- Keep Distance from Nests: Avoid lingering near small domed nests of warblers or thornbills during spring breeding.
Found in Collections
Backyard Birds
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