Asian Emerald Cuckoo   Chrysococcyx maculatus

Etymology

• Chrysococcyx : khrusos – gold; kokkux-cuckoo

• Maculatus : Latin word for Spotted, Blotched

Vernacular name:   Cachar: Dao piu pip, Lepcha: Ang pha

Distribution in India: Summer Visitor to East Himalayas & North east India. Winter visitor to Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Description:  Size of 17–18 cm; weight of 23–30 g. The adult male is glossy green above and from chin to upper breast. The belly is white with green and bronze bars. The underside of wing is with white band. The eye-ring is orange-red, iris red to red-brown, bill is orange with black tip, feet are green. The female is bronze-green above, crown and nape are light rufous, tail is barred chestnut and black, green in centre. It is white below, tinged rufous on throat and flanks, barred with bronze; iris is brown, bill is yellow with black tip, feet are brownish green. The juvenile has variable plumages, head rufous (some white-barred on crown) or barred green and white, or head and mantle are rufous, back and wing-coverts barred rufous and bronze-green, or rufous and brown, tail barred brown and rufous. The throat and breast are rufous with bronze bars, belly white barred with brown, white underwing band. The bill is black above, flesh below, feet are grey.

Habitat: It is found in dense evergreen forests, broadleaf secondary forest. Outside breeding season it is found in orchards and gardens. It is found from lowlands to 2500 m (lower in winter).

Food Habits: It eats Insects, ants, caterpillars, bugs. It forages mainly in tree canopy, often taking prey on the wing

Breeding Habits: They breed in Apr–Jul. They are brood-parasitic. Their hosts are Crimson Sunbird and Little Spiderhunter in India. The eggs are whitish, blotched with light brown or reddish brown.