Shining bronze cuckoo

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Shining bronze cuckoo
Shining Bronze Cuckoo 0772.jpg
In NSW, Australia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Chalcites
Species:
C. lucidus
Binomial name
Chalcites lucidus
(Gmelin, 1788)
Synonyms

Chrysococcyx lucidus

The shining bronze cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae, found in Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It was formerly placed in the genus Chrysococcyx .

Contents

It is a very small cuckoo, being only 13 to 18 cm (5.1 to 7.1 in) in length, and parasitises chiefly dome-shaped nests of various Gerygone species, having a range that largely corresponds with the distribution of that genus. It may also parasitise other Acanthizidae species, and is also the most southerly ranging brood parasitic bird species in the world, extending to at least 46°S in New Zealand.

Taxonomy

In Brisbane Chrysococcyx lucidus -Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-8.jpg
In Brisbane

The shining bronze cuckoo was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with all the other cuckoos in the genus Cuculus and coined the binomial name Cuculus lucidus. [2] Gmelin based his description on the Shining cuckoo from New Zealand that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had in turn based his account on a drawing obtained from Joseph Banks. [3] The shining bronze cuckoo is now placed together with 7 other species in the genus Chalcites that was introduced in 1830 by the French naturalist René Lesson. [4] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek χρυσος khrusos meaning "gold" with κοκκυξ kokkux "cuckoo". The specific epithet lucidus is from Latin and means "clear" or "bright". [5]

In 1801 Latham described the "Glossy cuckoo" as Cuculus plagosus from New South Wales, [6] [7] and the two were classified as separate species for many years. However Latham's Cuculus plagosus is now considered as a subspecies of the shining bronze cuckoo. [8] In New Zealand it is usually known as the shining cuckoo, or by its Māori name pīpīwharauroa. [9]

Formerly some authorities placed the shining bronze cuckoo together with a group of Afro-Asian species in the genus Chrysococcyx . [4]

Four subspecies are recognised: [4]

Description

Hard to spot and easier to hear, the shining bronze cuckoo is 13–18 cm (5.1–7.1 in) in overall length, has a wingspan of 25–32 cm (9.8–12.6 in) and weighs around 25 g (0.88 oz). It is slightly larger than Horsfield's bronze cuckoo (Chalcites basalis). [10] It has metallic golden or coppery green upperparts and white cheeks and underparts barred with dark green. The female is similar with a more purplish sheen to the crown and nape and bronzer-tinged barring on the belly. The bill is black and the feet are black with yellow undersides. [11]

Distribution and habitat

in New Zealand Shining Bronze Cuckoo, North Island, New Zealand (39265666741).jpg
in New Zealand

The shining bronze cuckoo is a summer visitor to Eastern Australia from the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland to South Australia's Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island and Tasmania, as well as Western Australia from Carnarvon in the north to the southwest and east to Esperance. These winter in the Lessa Sunda Islands and New Guinea. [12] New Zealand populations winter in the Solomon Islands and arrive in New Zealand from mid August, though they are not common until October. They spread out to Stewart and Chatham Islands and are found to an altitude of 4000 ft. [11] The island races, layardi in New Caledonia, Vanuatu and some of the islands of the Solomon Islands, and harterti of Rennell and Bellona Islands in the Solomons, are non-migratory. [13]

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Dark shining bronze cuckoo egg in a clutch from the fan-tailed gerygone Chrysococcyx lucidus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.150.22.jpg
Dark shining bronze cuckoo egg in a clutch from the fan-tailed gerygone
A juvenile shining cuckoo being fed by a grey warbler A Juvenile Shining Cuckoo being fed by a Grey Warbler.jpg
A juvenile shining cuckoo being fed by a grey warbler

A female shining bronze cuckoo lays a single egg in a host nest and removes a host egg. After hatching, the baby cuckoo ejects the host nestlings from the nest. [14]

The grey warbler is a common host species in New Zealand, the shining bronze cuckoos missing the first but parasitising heavily the second broods of the season (55% of nests in a study in Kaikōura). [15] Fieldwork near Kaikōura showed that the dark colour of cuckoo eggs seemed to serve to protect cuckoo eggs from being removed by other cuckoos in grey warbler nests rather than the hosts. A test using model eggs of different tones showed that the hosts did not reject eggs, but that cuckoos removed eggs of brighter colours. The dark matte cuckoo eggs are hard to see in the shadows of a grey warbler nest. [16]

The Chatham Island warbler is a host species in the Chatham Islands. [11] The matte eggs laid are olive brown in Western Australia and various shades of green or greenish white to olive to dark brown elsewhere, and do not resemble the eggs of their host. The dark pigment rubs off easily. [14] The eggs are often dark coloured in thornbill and gerygone nests, whose eggs are likewise domed and dark. This is thought to minimise the risk of ejection by a second female cuckoo visitor to the already parasitised nest, which might overlook a dark egg when laying another egg. [15]

Several other species are occasional hosts. In Victoria in 2005, a pair of chestnut-rumped heathwren was encountered with a juvenile shining bronze cuckoo which imitated the alarm call of a baby heathwren. [17] The introduced house sparrow and song thrush have been recorded as hosts in New Zealand. [18]

Young shining bronze cuckoo with caterpillar, Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Canberra Chrysococcyx lucidus -Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Canberra, Australia-8.jpg
Young shining bronze cuckoo with caterpillar, Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Canberra

In New Caledonia, the fan-tailed gerygone (Gerygone flavolateralis) is the sole host of the species. [19]

Food and feeding

Insectivorous, the shining bronze cuckoo eats insects that are avoided by other birds, such as caterpillars, particularly those of the magpie moth, and beetles, particularly ladybirds. The shining bronze cuckoo's gizzard is lined with a soft thick lining which catches the caterpillar spines; these fall away and are spat out by the bird. [20]

Predators and threats

The shining bronze cuckoo falls prey to cats. It has been recorded dying after flying into windows. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuckoo</span> Family of birds

Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes. The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae, respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalayan cuckoo</span> Species of bird

Cuculus saturatus, better well known as the Himalayan cuckoo or Oriental cuckoo, is a brooding parasitic bird that is part of the Cuculidae family. The species breeds from the Himalayas eastward to southern China and Taiwan. It migrates to southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands for the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pipipi</span> Species of bird

The pipipi, also known as brown creeper, New Zealand creeper or New Zealand titmouse, is a small passerine bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. They are specialist insectivores, gleaning insects from branches and leaves. They have strong legs and toes for hanging upside down while feeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horsfield's bronze cuckoo</span> Species of bird

Horsfield's bronze cuckoo 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. Horsfield's bronze cuckoo can be destiguished from other bronze cuckoos by 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. This species was formerly placed in the genus Chrysococcyx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little bronze cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The little bronze cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was formerly placed in the genus Chrysococcyx. It is found in Southeast Asia, New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is the world's smallest cuckoo, at 17 grams (0.60 oz) and 15 cm (6 in). The subspecies rufomerus is sometimes given specific status. The pied bronze cuckoo was formerly considered to be a subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-eared cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The black-eared cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Found across Australia, it migrates to eastern Indonesia and southern New Guinea. They are usually observed by themselves or in a pair as they don't raise their own young, rather they leave eggs in another species nest to be raised by host. This species was formerly placed in the genus Chrysococcyx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pallid cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The pallid cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 cm in size, with distinctive markings such as a dark bill, a dark eye with a gold eye-ring and olive grey feet which differentiate it from other cuckoos. The pallid cuckoo is similar in appearance to the oriental cuckoo, with barred immature pallid cuckoos being often mistaken for oriental cuckoos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Channel-billed cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The channel-billed cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus Scythrops. The species is the largest brood parasite in the world, and the largest cuckoo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speckled warbler</span> Species of bird

The speckled warbler is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham gerygone</span> Species of bird

The Chatham gerygone or Chatham Island warbler is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands. The Chatham Island warbler is larger than and differs in plumage from the related grey warbler of mainland New Zealand. Both warblers were discovered and named by G. R. Gray in 1845. The grey and Chatham Island warblers are the only two members of the Australasian family Acanthizidae found in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangrove gerygone</span> Species of bird

The mangrove gerygone is a species of bird in the Australian warbler family Acanthizidae. The species is also known as the mangrove warbler. The species is thought to form a superspecies with the closely related fan-tailed gerygone of Melanesia and the Australian western gerygone. There are three subspecies of mangrove gerygone, G. l. pallida, found in southern New Guinea, the nominate race G. l. levigaster, which is found from coastal Western Australia to coastal north Queensland and is known as Buff-breasted Flyeater, and G. l. cantator, which is found from coastal Queensland to New South Wales. The species is uncommon in New Guinea and has suffered some declines due to mangrove clearances but is not considered threatened by the IUCN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose robin</span> Species of songbird native to southeastern Australia

The rose robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. The male has a distinctive pink breast. Its upperparts are dark grey with white frons, and its tail black with white tips. The underparts and shoulder are white. The female is an undistinguished grey-brown. The robin has a small black bill and eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriental cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfields cuckoo is a bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo, with the name 'Oriental cuckoo' used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that it should be treated as a separate species. The binomial name Cuculus horsfieldi has often been used instead of Cuculus optatus, but is now usually considered to be a junior synonym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The Sunda cuckoo or Sunda lesser cuckoo is a South-east Asian bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. It was formerly classified with the Himalayan cuckoo and Oriental cuckoo in a single species, C. saturatus, but is now often regarded as a separate species based on differences in voice, size and plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acanthizidae</span> Family of birds

Acanthizidae—sometimes called Australian warblers—are a family of passerine birds which includes gerygones, thornbills Acanthiza, and scrubwrens Sericornis. The family Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 centimetres. They have short rounded wings, slender bills, long legs, and a short tail. Most species have olive, grey, or brown plumage, although some have patches of a brighter yellow. The weebill is the smallest species of acanthizid, and the smallest Australian passerine; the largest is the pilotbird.

<i>Chalcites</i> Genus of birds

Chrysococcyx is a genus of Australasian cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. They were formerly placed in the genus Chrysococcyx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey warbler</span> Species of bird

The grey warbler, also known by its Māori name riroriro or outside New Zealand as the grey gerygone, is an insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae endemic to New Zealand. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is sometimes known as the teetotum or rainbird.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Chalcites lucidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 421.
  3. ↑ Latham, John (1782). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 2. London: Printed for Benj. White. p. 528, No. 24 Plate 23.
  4. 1 2 3 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  105, 232. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Latham, John (1801). Supplement II to the General Synopsis of Birds. London: Leigh & Sotheby. pp. 138–139.
  7. ↑ Latham, John (1801). Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici sive Systematis Ornithologie Studio et Opera. London: Leigh & Sotheby. p. xxxi. For a discussion of the publication date see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 115–116. ISBN   978-0-9568611-1-5.
  8. ↑ Christidis, Les; Boles, Walter (2008). Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. Collingwood, VIC, Australia: CSIRO Pub. p. 162. ISBN   978-0-643-06511-6.
  9. ↑ "Shining cuckoo | New Zealand Birds Online". nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  10. ↑ Higgins 1999, p. 726.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Falla, Robert Alexander; Sibson, Richard Broadley; Turbott, Evan Graham (1972) [1966]. The New Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Collins. pp. 181–82. ISBN   0-00-212022-4.
  12. ↑ Sibley, Charles Gald; Monroe, Burt Leavelle (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press. p. 100. ISBN   0300049692.
  13. ↑ Payne, R. (2019). del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David A; de Juana, Eduardo (eds.). "Shining Bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus)" . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  14. 1 2 Johnsgard, Paul A. (1997). The Avian Brood Parasites:Deception at the Nest: Deception at the Nest. Oxford University Press. p. 233. ISBN   0195110420.
  15. 1 2 Davies, Nick (2010). Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats. A&C Black. p. 94. ISBN   978-1408135860.
  16. ↑ Thorogood, Rose; Kilner, Rebecca M.; Rasmussen, Justin (2017). "Grey Gerygone hosts are not egg rejecters, but Shining Bronze-Cuckoos lay cryptic eggs". The Auk. 134 (2): 340–49. doi: 10.1642/AUK-16-128.1 .
  17. ↑ Rogers, Danny I; Rogers, Ken G.; Sandbrink, Joan (2006). "Shining Bronze-Cuckoo associating with and imitating alarm call of Chestnut-rumped Heathwren". Australian Field Ornithology. 23 (1): 42–45. ISSN   1448-0107.
  18. ↑ Smith, W.W. (1931). "Feeding habits of the Shining Bronze Cuckoo" (PDF). Emu. 30 (3): 217–18. doi:10.1071/mu930217.
  19. ↑ Attisano, Alfredo; Thiel, Felix; Sato, Nozomu; Okahisa, Yuji; Bolopo, Diana; Tanaka, Keita D.; Kuehn, Ralph; Gula, Roman; Ueda, Keisuke; Theuerkauf, Jörn (28 August 2018). "Breeding biology of the Fan-tailed Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis in relation to parasitism by the Shining Bronze-cuckoo Chalcites lucidus". Journal of Ornithology. 160 (1): 91–103. doi: 10.1007/s10336-018-1592-6 .
  20. ↑ Gill, Brian J. (1980). "Foods of the Shining Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus, Aves, Cuculidae) in New Zealand" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 3: 138–140.

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