It wears a suit of gorgeous emerald green complemented with a waistcoat of stunning golden yellow. The African emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus), is a species of cuckoo is an Old World cuckoo of the Cuculidae genus. Around 8.3 to 9.1 inches in length, these birds weigh about 1.2 ounces. Sporting a short, slim bill and brown-orange eyes, males have a brilliant metallic coat of green plumage, with a bright yellow breast and abdomen.
Its tail feathers are tipped with white. Females are brown above, barred with green and white below. A strikingly colorful bird, the African Emerald Cuckoo is found widely throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, occurring in countries like Angola, Botswana, and Burundi. These birds like to inhabit densely wooded forests with Mopane trees, they will occasionally, however, frequent urban areas, like parks, gardens, and empty buildings. The Emerald Cuckoo likes to dine on insects, like butterflies, ants, locusts, and caterpillars.
Not a species to build its own nest or raise its own young, the female Emerald Cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, primarily Yellow-whiskered Bulbuls, Bee Eaters, and Puffback Shrikes. She will usually wait till the nest owners are out foraging and toss out the existing eggs and laying her own. The occupants will come back and incubate the cuckoo eggs, raising the young as their own. Threats: This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common throughout most of this range, for this reason, it is listed as of Least Concern on the IUCN list.
African Emerald Cuckoo.__Photographer_ Hugh Chittenden.
