Horsfield's bronze cuckoo

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Horsfield's bronze cuckoo

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order:
Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Genus: Chrysococcyx
Species:
C. basalis
Binomial name
Chrysococcyx basalis
(Horsfield, 1821)

Horsfield's bronze cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis) is a small cuckoo in the family

Cuculidae. Its size averages 22g[2] 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.[3] The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is common throughout Australia preferring the drier open woodlands away from forested areas.[4]

Taxonomy

The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is one of five Australian species in the genus Chrysococcyx (formerly Chalcites) a type of parasitic bird,[3] that parasitises fairy-wrens primarily to raise their young.[2][5]

Diet and behaviour

Photographed at Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia

The main diet of the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is insects and they are nomadic, travelling to different regions of Australia to breed and find food.[5] Small insects are taken from leaves, branches, caught on the wing and in breeding season, Horsfield's bronze cuckoos feed each other in a courtship ritual.[6]

The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is known as a

warblers and scrub-wrens that can be utilised as a secondary host in certain locations.[2][5][8][9]
Although the behavioural attributes of a host species may play a role in parasitism, it is thought that the female selects its host through imprinting, remembering the species that it was raised by and ultimately using that species to raise its brood.[10][11]

Breeding

The Horsfield's bronze cuckoos are known to form

monogamous pairs in the breeding season and occupy the same breeding territories as their host species; however, partnerships are short-lived as a female will only occupy the breeding territory for a few weeks, as another female takes her place, she may form a pairing with the same male.[5] Females that leave a breeding site after several weeks may move to another site and continue to breed with another male, forming another bond in a new breeding territory. Breeding territories of the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo generally do not overlap giving rise to the possibility that a pair will defend an area through the season.[9]

Parasitism

As a brood parasite, the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo does not build its own nest but will use a host species' nest to lay its eggs. The breeding season for the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo relies on their host and they will lay one to

superb fairy-wren is between September and February and a female may have three consecutive broods in this time, allowing the cuckoo multiple attempts to parasitise this species.[13][14] The female cuckoo may choose a breeding site with a high density of hosts, which allows extra opportunity for her success in parasitising a nest successfully. Studies have shown at one site a female did not parasitise a territory with less than 23 breeding pairs of their primary host (Malurus cyaneus).[5]

The

nutrients needed to produce more smaller eggs than few larger eggs can be utilised more efficiently.[15][16] Egg laying is very fast for the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo; it is able to lay an egg in under 6 seconds typically in the morning shortly after the host has laid.[17] The adult cuckoo removes one egg each time she lays, only laying one egg per nest and replacing one host egg with one of her own.[14]

Younger, semi-experienced females were generally selected over new and

superb fairy wren will not reject the cuckoo's egg. Fairy-wrens make oval dome nests that can be dark inside, meaning it is harder for the fairy-wren to distinguish between its own egg and the host's egg. Furthermore, the mimicry in eggs from the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo has evolved over time and the parasite eggs are hard to distinguish except for their slight elongation and glossier finish.[2][9][12]

The cuckoo chick hatches within 12 days of

fledged
.

Coevolutionary arms race

Counter-adaptations have been documented for host species and cuckoos alike, as each adapts to the other in a coevolutionary "arms race".[20] Studies show that coevolutions happen at all stages of the growth cycle, not just the early stages.[21][22][23]

Fairy-wrens have adapted some host defences to reduce parasitism. The high cost of hosting a parasitic species, in energy and genetics, drives the host to improve its defences, which in turn drive the parasite to improve its offences.[24]

Among the host's defensive adaptations:

  • Hosts like to nest in large colonies, to cooperate in spotting cuckoos and chasing them away.[25][21]
  • Helpers in large colonies provision the female so she can spend more time guarding the nest.[26]
  • Hosts learn and recognise their own eggs, and abandon any that are in the nest before they have started their own.[12][15]

Among the cuckoo's adaptations:

Media

Typical call, SE Queensland, Australia

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Chrysococcyx basalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Brooker, M.G; Brooker, L.C (1989a). "Cuckoo Hosts in Australia". Aust Zool Rev. 2: 1–67.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781740214179
    .
  4. doi:10.1071/zo9920485
    .
  5. ^
    S2CID 53146815
    .
  6. ^ Lorenzana, J.C; Sealy, S.G (1998). "Adult Brood Parasites Feeding Nestlings and Fledglings of Their Own Species: A Review". Journal of Field Ornithology: 364–375.
  7. ^ Davies, N.B (2010). Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Cheats. A&C Black.
  8. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1989.tb04789.x
    .
  9. ^
    S2CID 24883682
    .
  10. doi:10.1080/00063656309476050
    .
  11. JSTOR 3565958
    .
  12. ^
    S2CID 4428447
    .
  13. PMID 18312341
    .
  14. ^
    S2CID 86190974
    .
  15. ^
    doi:10.1093/beheco/7.4.395
    .
  16. PMID 28563269
    .
  17. doi:10.1071/mu9880107
    .
  18. PMID 18419751
    .
  19. ^ Payne, R.B; Payne, L.L (1998). "Nestling eviction and vocal begging behaviors in the Australian glossy cuckoos Chrysococcyx basalis and C. lucidus". Oxford Ornithology Series. 9: 152–172.
  20. S2CID 9695900
    .
  21. ^
    S2CID 2619455
    .
  22. ^
    S2CID 53201268
    .
  23. hdl:1885/66602
    .
  24. S2CID 3889366
    .
  25. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2006.00633.x
    .
  26. S2CID 53171888
    .
  27. PMID 20002251
    .
  28. PMID 20421497
    .
  29. PMID 20053650
    .
  30. S2CID 54230252
    .
  31. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1972.tb02604.x
    .
  32. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1991.tb04589.x
    .
  33. PMID 19126530
    .
  34. S2CID 53191651
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chrysococcyx basalis.
Wikispecies has information related to Chrysococcyx basalis.
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