The Shining Bronze Cuckoo/Pīpīwharauroa

Identification

The Shining Cuckoo is a Maori bird native to New Zealand and is the smaller of the two cuckoos in New Zealand. Its feathers are an iridescent dark green above, and a zebra-like pattern below. The chick’s plumage is slightly toned down, especially on the throat and chest . The different genders both look alike.

Song:

The Shining Cuckoos song is a loud upward-slurred whistle repeated several times. The pattern usually ends with a downwardly-slurred whistle. Repeated downward-slurred calls are generally, perhaps always, due to several birds coming together, and may be part of courtship behaviour.

Habitat:

Shining cuckoos appear throughout much of New Zealand, reflecting the wide distribution of their primary host, the grey warbler. They are also present in low numbers on the Chatham Islands, where they parasitise Chatham Island warblers. Shining cuckoos are present in New Zealand in spring, summer and autumn only, either breeding or on passage to or from breeding locations. Except for rare records of over-wintering birds, shining cuckoos from New Zealand spend the winters in the Bismarck Archipelago islands(New Guinea) and Solomon Islands.

Threats and conservation.

Although classified “Least concern” on mainland New Zealand, shining cuckoos are quite scarce on the Chatham Islands, even at sites where Chatham Island warblers are abundant. It is unknown whether Chatham Island shining cuckoos are an overflow from New Zealand, of birds that can parasitise either warbler species, or whether they are an isolated subpopulation that only breed on the Chatham Islands. If the latter is the case, then the Chatham Island subpopulation of shining cuckoos is perilously close to extinction.

 

As you can see, the Shining Bronze Cuckoo is not endangered but positively thriving in New Zealand, And The final fun fact isss………..
Shining cuckoos are actually brood parasites, laying their eggs singly in nests of grey warblers (mainland) and Chatham Island warblers. Eggs are laid mostly in November, after which the adult cuckoos take no further part in breeding. Young cuckoos are dependent on their foster-parents for several weeks after fledging.