General Description

Small bird with coppery bronze bars on white chest. Metallic green nap and copper-coloured cap. Under tail black. Feet black with yellow undersides. Slender bill.

Biology

Shining Bronze-cuckoos do not build nests; instead they parasitise the domed nests of thornbills, fairy wrens and scrub wrens. They lay a single egg after ejecting one of the host eggs. After hatching, the juvenile cuckoo ejects any host nestling from the nest. They are general solitary birds or gather in very small groups during breading. During migration they may congregate in flocks of up to 100.

Distribution

Pacific Islands. Eastern Australia, except Tasmania. Throughout Victoria.

Habitat

Forested areas, open woodlands, parks and gardens.

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