Food
Insects and their larvae, mainly procured in trees and shrubs.
Voice
A long, descending, rippling trill, loud, clear and ringing. Also a series of 3 to 6 descending notes like a slower, drawn out version of the trill, 'tiew-tiew-tiew-tiew...'.
Nest
None. Egg(s) laid in that of the foster parents. The most common species include the warblers (gerygones).
Eggs (Guide)
1; slightly lustrous, bronze-brown to buff-olive, peppered all over but particularly at the larger end with tiny darker specks; long-oval; about 19 x 13 mm. Incubation is carried out by the species whose nest has been parasitised. The preference is for nests gerygones and relatives.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous.
Subspecies
BirdLife International retain Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites minutillus) (Payne, 1997) and Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) as separate species contra Christidis and Boles (2008) who treat Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus) as a subspecies of Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites minutillus).
Chrysococcyx minutillus and Chrysococcyx rufomerus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped into Chrysococcyx minutillus following Payne (1997 and 2005).
The following 13 subspecies are recognised:
minutillus (Gould, 1859) - Northern Australia, some perhaps migrating to the Lesser Sundas, southern Moluccas, Peleng Island and New Guinea in the non-breeding season.
barnardi Mathews, 1912 - North-eastern Nsouth-western and south-eastern Qld, migrating to northern Qld and southern New Guinea.
albifrons (Junge, 1938) - Sumatra and Java.
cleis Parker, 1981 - Northern and eastern Borneo.
peninsularis Parker, SA, 1981 - Malay Peninsula.
aheneus (Junge, 1938) - South-eastern Borneo and southern Philippines. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus).
jungei (Stresemann, 1938) - Sulawesi, Madu and Flores. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus).
rufomerus Hartert, 1900 - Lesser Sundas (Romang, Kisar, Leti, Moa, Sermata, Damar). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Green-cheeked Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx rufomerus).
crassirostris (Salvadori, 1878) - Moluccas (Tayandu, Kai) and Tanimbar Is (Yamdena, Larat). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Pied Bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites crassirostris).
misoriensis (Salvadori, 1876) - Lowlands on northern coast of New Guinea, and islands off eastern, northern and north-western coasts. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus).
poecilurus Gray, GR, 1862 - Lowlands on southern coast of New Guinea, and islands off western and southern coasts including Misool.
russatus Gould, 1868 - Northern and eastern Queensland (Cape York along eastern coast). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet