{{short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Shining bronze cuckoo | image = Shining Bronze Cuckoo 0772.jpg | image_caption=In NSW, Australia | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2018 |title=''Chalcites lucidus'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T22683973A131913272 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22683973A131913272.en |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Chalcites lucidus | authority = (Gmelin, 1788) |synonyms = *''Chrysococcyx lucidus'' {{small|(Gmelin, 1788)}} *''Cuculus lucidus'' {{small|Gmelin, 1788}} |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/CNJTS |title=''Chalcites lucidus'' (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) |website=Catalogue of Life |access-date=25 August 2025}}</ref> }}

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''.

It is a very small cuckoo, being only {{cvt|13|to|18|cm}} 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.

==Description== Hard to spot and easier to hear, the shining bronze cuckoo is {{cvt|13|-|18|cm}} in overall length, has a wingspan of {{cvt|25|-|32|cm}} and weighs around {{cvt|25|g}}. It is slightly larger than Horsfield's bronze cuckoo (''Chalcites basalis'').<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Higgins | editor-first=P.J. |year=1999 | chapter=''Chrysococcyx lucidus'' Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | title=Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds | volume=4, Parrots to dollarbird | location=Melbourne, Victoria | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-553071-1 | chapter-url=https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/292_Shining%20Cuckoo.pdf |p=726}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NGBNZ">{{cite book|last1=Falla|first1=Robert Alexander|title=The New Guide to the Birds of New Zealand|last2=Sibson|first2=Richard Broadley|last3=Turbott|first3=Evan Graham|publisher=Collins|year=1972|isbn=0-00-212022-4|pages=181–82|orig-date=1966}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== thumb|right|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''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1788 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=421 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2897021 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book| last=Latham | first=John | year=1782 | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=1, Part 2 | page=528, No. 24 Plate 23| location=London | publisher=Printed for Benj. White | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33727158 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/turacos/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n105/mode/1up 105], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n232/mode/1up 232]}}</ref>

In 1801 Latham described the "Glossy cuckoo" as ''Cuculus plagosus'' from New South Wales,<ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham| first= John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1801 | title=Supplement II to the General Synopsis of Birds | publisher=Leigh & Sotheby | location=London | pages=138–139 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33261078 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first= John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1801 | title=Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici sive Systematis Ornithologie Studio et Opera | publisher=Leigh & Sotheby | location=London | page=xxxi | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33261078 }} For a discussion of the publication date see: {{ cite book | last1=Dickinson | first1=E.C. | author1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | last2=Overstreet | first2=L.K. | last3=Dowsett | first3=R.J. | last4=Bruce | first4=M.D. | year=2011 | title=Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers | location=Northampton, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-1-5 | pages=115–116 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267763194 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Les |last1=Christidis |first2=Walter |last2=Boles |author-link1=Leslie Christidis |title=Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds |publisher=CSIRO Pub |location=Collingwood, VIC, Australia |year=2008|page=162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klm159tsD-oC&q=%22Shining+Bronze+Cuckoo%22&pg=PA162 |isbn=978-0-643-06511-6}}</ref> In New Zealand it is usually known as the shining cuckoo, or by its Māori name {{lang|mi|pīpīwharauroa}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shining cuckoo {{!}} New Zealand Birds Online|url=http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/shining-cuckoo|website=nzbirdsonline.org.nz|access-date=2020-05-09}}</ref>

Formerly some authorities placed the shining bronze cuckoo together with a group of Afro-Asian species in the genus ''Chrysococcyx''.<ref name=ioc/>

Four subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc/> * ''C. l. harterti'' Mayr, 1932 – resident on Rennell and Bellona (south Solomon Islands) * ''C. l. layardi'' Mathews, 1912 – resident on Temotu (=Santa Cruz Islands, southeast Solomon Islands), Vanuatu including Banks Islands and New Caledonia including Loyalty Islands * ''C. l. plagosus'' (Latham, 1801) – breeds southwest Western Australia, Cape York Peninsula, northeast Queensland to southeast South Australia and Tasmania (southwest, northeast Australia and Tasmania): winters Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago * ''C. l. lucidus'' (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – breeds North, South, Stewart Island, satellites and Chatham Islands (east of South Island; New Zealand): winters to east Australia, New Guinea, D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago (east of southeast New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago including Admiralty Islands and Solomon Islands

==Distribution and habitat== thumb|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.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Sibley, Charles Gald |author2=Monroe, Burt Leavelle |title=Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1990|page=100|isbn=0-300-04969-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk-vyrNVAccC&q=Shining+Bronze+Cuckoo&pg=PA100}}</ref> 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 {{cvt|4000|ft|-1}}.<ref name="NGBNZ"/> 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.<ref name="hbw">{{cite web | last1=Payne | first1=R. |editor1-last=del Hoyo |editor1-first=Josep |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=Andrew |editor3-last=Sargatal |editor3-first=Jordi |editor4-last=Christie |editor4-first=David A |editor5-last=de Juana |editor5-first=Eduardo |year=2019 |title= Shining Bronze-cuckoo (''Chalcites lucidus'') |work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive |url=https://www.hbw.com/species/shining-bronze-cuckoo-chalcites-lucidus |publisher=Lynx Edicions |location=Barcelona |access-date=21 February 2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology== ===Breeding=== [[File:Chrysococcyx lucidus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.150.22.jpg|thumb|Dark shining bronze cuckoo egg in a clutch from the fan-tailed gerygone]] [[File:A Juvenile Shining Cuckoo being fed by a Grey Warbler.jpg|thumb|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.<ref name=johnsgard>{{cite book|last=Johnsgard|first=Paul A. |author-link=Paul Johnsgard|title=The Avian Brood Parasites:Deception at the Nest: Deception at the Nest|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1997|page=233|isbn=0-19-511042-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhhRGJNqQhIC&q=Shining+Bronze+Cuckoo&pg=PA237}}</ref>

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).<ref name=davies>{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Nick|title=Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats|publisher=A&C Black|year=2010|page=94|isbn=978-1-4081-3586-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PusIeZgkgMoC&q=%22Shining+Bronze+Cuckoo%22&pg=PA94}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thorogood |first1=Rose |first2=Rebecca M. |last2=Kilner |author-link2=Rebecca Kilner |first3=Justin |last3=Rasmussen | title=Grey Gerygone hosts are not egg rejecters, but Shining Bronze-Cuckoos lay cryptic eggs |journal=The Auk |date=2017 |volume=134 |issue=2 |pages=340–49 |doi=10.1642/AUK-16-128.1 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312922949|doi-access=free |hdl=10138/233905 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The Chatham Island warbler is a host species in the Chatham Islands.<ref name="NGBNZ"/> 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.<ref name=johnsgard/> 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.<ref name=davies/>

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.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Rogers, Danny I |author2=Rogers, Ken G. |author3=Sandbrink, Joan |title=Shining Bronze-Cuckoo associating with and imitating alarm call of Chestnut-rumped Heathwren |journal= Australian Field Ornithology|volume=23|issue=1|year =2006|pages= 42–45|issn=1448-0107}}</ref> The introduced house sparrow and song thrush have been recorded as hosts in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=W.W.|year=1931|title=Feeding habits of the Shining Bronze Cuckoo|journal=Emu|volume=30|issue=3|pages=217–18|url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU930217.pdf|doi=10.1071/mu930217}}</ref> thumb|right|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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Attisano |first1=Alfredo |last2=Thiel |first2=Felix |last3=Sato |first3=Nozomu |last4=Okahisa |first4=Yuji |last5=Bolopo |first5=Diana |last6=Tanaka |first6=Keita D. |last7=Kuehn |first7=Ralph |last8=Gula |first8=Roman |last9=Ueda |first9=Keisuke |last10=Theuerkauf |first10=Jörn |title=Breeding biology of the Fan-tailed Gerygone ''Gerygone flavolateralis'' in relation to parasitism by the Shining Bronze-cuckoo ''Chalcites lucidus'' |journal=Journal of Ornithology |date=28 August 2018 |volume=160 |issue=1 |pages=91–103 |doi=10.1007/s10336-018-1592-6 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gill|first=Brian J.|year=1980|title=Foods of the Shining Bronze Cuckoo (''Chrysococcyx lucidus'', Aves, Cuculidae) in New Zealand|journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology|volume=3|pages=138–140|url=http://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol3_138.pdf}}</ref> The species is also known to eat bird eggs.<ref name="Gill2024">{{cite Q|Q134485804}}</ref>

==Predators and threats== The shining bronze cuckoo falls prey to cats. It has been recorded dying after flying into windows.<ref name="NGBNZ"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category}} * [http://www.aviceda.org/800/index.php?/category/3341 Aviceda Wildlife Services Global Bird Image gallery] * [http://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/shining-bronze-cuckoo-chalcites-lucidus On the HBW Internet Bird Collection]

{{Birds of New Zealand}} {{Portal bar|Birds|New Zealand|Oceania}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q28108978|from2=Q796741}}

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