Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
Chalcites basalis
A small greenish bird with a barred chest and tail, and a dark stripe through the eye that droops down across the cheek. Young birds can be almost unbarred and may appear similar to the grayer Black-eared Cuckoo. Often perches prominently on top of a shrub or tree, and calls repeatedly with a loud piercing descending whistle. Occurs in Indonesia and across much of Australia (including arid inland areas).
Taxonomy
The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is one of five Australian species in the genus Chrysococcyx (formerly Chalcites) a type of parasitic bird, that parasitises fairy-wrens primarily to raise their young.
- Scientific name
- Chalcites basalis
- Authority
- (Horsfield, 1821)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Chalcites
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- AU : Australia and Tasmania
- Non-breeding range
- to Indonesian Arch.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Eremopterix griseus
A small, stocky bird with a heavy, finch-like bill. Males have a gray head that contrasts with a black eye-stripe, and black on the collar, throat, and underparts. Females are pale brown with weak streaks on the head, back, and underparts. Similar to Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, but Ashy-crowned males are told apart by the gray on the head. Females are difficult to distinguish. Inhabits dry scrub, fields, and rocky country. The song is often given in display flight, and consists of monotone whistles interspersed with buzzy notes.
Fawn-breasted Tanager
Pipraeidea melanonota
Small sleek tanager with distinctive color pattern: pale sandy underparts with peachy blush on breast, black mask, powdery-blue crown, and darker blue back and wings. Sexes alike. Uncommon in second growth, edges, and gardens, where it is most often seen singly or in pairs. Occasionally follows mixed-species flocks. Found from foothills to upper subtropical zone in Andes, sometimes straying even higher. Populations in southeastern South America occur at lower elevations.
Black-faced Grosbeak
Caryothraustes poliogaster
Rather chunky, social bird of humid evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands and foothills. Usually in small and often noisy groups (at times up to 50 birds), moving at middle to upper levels in fruiting trees; not usually with mixed-species feeding flocks. Sexes look alike, with subtly attractive plumage: mustard-yellow head and breast with black face and blue-gray belly. Calls are buzzy splutters and whistles.
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