African Emerald Cuckoo
Chrysococcyx cupreus
Forests. Male bright green above, beak to tail, plus breast; belly yellow; eyes dark; beak green. Female brown above; white below with heavy green banding overall.
Cuckoos
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Fairly common summer resident. Male identified by yellow belly and lack of any white on the head. Female distinguished from female of [Klaas’s Cuckoo] by the absence of a white mark behind the eye, much more bronze upper parts, heavily barred underparts, dark eyes and bluish bill and feet. The call is a clear ‘Pretty, Geor-gie’. Occurs in the upper stratum of forests and valley bush. Parasitises forest robins, warblers and flycatchers.
Quick Facts
Size
20 cm - M
Names
A: Mooimeisie
Z: uBantwanyana
Ss: Ntetekeng Ya Mpasehla
G: Smaragdkuckuck
Bird Family
Cuckoos are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds, and the majority are absent from southern Africa during the period March-September. The related coucals are larger, more robust and mainly sedentary birds that build their own nests and rear young in the conventional manner.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Occurs in the upper stratum of forests and valley bush.
