| African emerald cuckoo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male C. c. intermedius São Tomé and Príncipe | |
 | |
| Female *C. c. Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Chrysococcyx |
| Species: | C. cupreus |
| Binomial name | |
| Chrysococcyx cupreus (Shaw, 1792) | |
The African emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus) is a species of cuckoo that is native to Africa.
As a member of the family Cuculidae, the African emerald cuckoo is an Old World cuckoo. There are four subspecies, namely C. c. cupreus, C. c. sharpei, C. c. intermedius, and C. c. insularum. [2] [3]
Its range covers most of sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The African emerald cuckoo is sexually dimorphic. The males have a green back and head with a yellow breast. Females are barred green and brown on their backs and green and white on their breasts. The African emerald cuckoo can also be identified by its call, a four-note whistle with the mnemonic device of “Hello Ju-dy.” [4]
The cuckoo's diet consists mainly of insects like caterpillars and ants. [5] The diet can be supplemented with some fruit, and the African emerald cuckoo often forages in the middle and top layers of the canopy. [6]
Like most cuckoos, the African emerald cuckoo is a brood parasite. Female African emerald cuckoos lay eggs in the nests of other bird species. A female cuckoo can lay between 19 and 25 eggs on average per breeding season. [7] The breeding season occurs during the rainy seasons, generally during the months between September and March. [4] Even though the cuckoos do not need territory to feed fledglings, male African emerald cuckoos still maintain territories to display themselves to potential mates. [4]
The cuckoo's distribution is 11,400,000 km (7,100,000 mi) [4] across sub-Saharan Africa, and subsequently the species is not in any immediate threat of decline. [8] However, there is some concern about habitat reduction and fragmentation of riparian areas and lowland forests in the upcoming years. [6]
In the Zigula language its call has been rendered as ziwkulwa tuoge, ("let's go and bathe"). In Zulu it is known as ubantwanyana, or "little children", which suggests the song Bantwanyana! ning'endi!, or "Little children, don't get married!". [9] In Xhosa it is mostly known as intananja, [5] but its call is also rendered as ziph' iintombi?, meaning "where are the girls?" [9] In Afrikaans, it is known as the mooimeisie, or "pretty girl". [10]
The swallow-tailed bee-eater is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae.
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Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs of the Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of 375 square kilometres (145 sq mi). Established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted as a national park only in 1992 after an initial survey of avifauna was conducted. The area is covered with tropical forest. The uniqueness of this park lies in the fact that it was established at the initiative of the local people and not by the State Department of wildlife who are responsible for wildlife preservation in Ghana. It is one of only 3 locations in Africa with a canopy walkway, which is 350 metres (1,150 ft) long and connects seven tree tops which provides access to the forest.
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The black-billed sicklebill, also known as the buff-tailed sicklebill, is a species of bird-of-paradise. It, along with its congener, are the only members of the genus Drepanornis.
The black-rumped waxbill is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,000,000 km2.
The Palestine sunbird is a small passerine bird of the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. Found in parts of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, it is also known as the orange-tufted sunbird, a name also used for the similar Cinnyris bouvieri, found further south in Africa. In 2015, the Palestinian Authority adopted the species as a national bird, after losing in Israel's national bird public vote in 2008, and after Israel's 2013 campaign to remove "Palestine" from the bird's common name. The specific name osea is derived from Ancient Greek ὁσια.
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Chrysococcyx is a genus of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.
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The Asian emerald cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
Dohrn's warbler, also known as Principe flycatcher-babbler, Dohrn's flycatcher, Dohrn's thrush-babbler, is a species of passerine bird in the family Sylviidae that is endemic to the island of Príncipe which lies off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea.
The western oriole, or western black-headed oriole, is a species of bird in the family Oriolidae that is native to Africa. The adult upperparts are yellow-olive, and the underparts are yellow in colour. It is rated as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species.
The Knysna woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to South Africa, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. It belongs to a species complex that includes the golden-tailed and Mombasa woodpeckers.
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Oreoicidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds from New Guinea and Australia, commonly known as the Australo-Papuan bellbirds. The family contains three genera, each containing a single species: Aleadryas, which contains the rufous-naped bellbird; Ornorectes, which contains the piping bellbird; and Oreoica, which contains the crested bellbird.
