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Diederik Cuckoo | Chrysococcyx caprius
Diederikkoekoek | Cuclillo didric
A small, glossy green cuckoo with white spots in the wing and a red eye, which in the region breeds only in south-west Arabia. Its rising dee-dee-deederik rings out in summer from the wadis and fields of Yemen and south-west Saudi Arabia, where it lays its eggs in the nests of weavers and sparrows.
Voice
A clear, rising and loud series, dee-dee-dee-deederik, often repeated many times and given by the male both from a lookout and in flight. The female gives a soft, plaintive deeyee-deeyee. Also heard in the midday heat.
Recording: Peter Ward — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
The male is glossy metallic green above with a bronze or copper sheen, with conspicuous white spots on the wing coverts and the inner webs of the flight feathers and white tips to the outer tail feathers. A white stripe runs in front of and behind the eye, broken by a green eye-stripe; iris and eye-ring are red. Underparts white, with green barring on the flanks. The female is more bronzy, with a buff-tinged throat and breast and more barring on the flanks. Juveniles have a striking coral-red bill, rufous-barred upperparts and spotted underparts. Flies fast and straight, often in chases.
Confusion species
No other glossy cuckoo occurs in the region. Klaas's Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas), which lives in sub-Saharan Africa but has not been recorded in the region, lacks the white wing spots and has only a small white patch behind the eye and a dark eye. In poor light a bird in flight can suggest a sunbird or a small falcon, but the green gloss and white spots are distinctive.
Habitat
Acacia savanna and scrub, wadis with riverine trees, irrigated fields with hedges, terraces in the mountains and village edges, always where weavers and sparrows nest in colonies. Feeds mainly on caterpillars and other insects, searched for in tree crowns and bushes.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
Summer visitor and breeder in Yemen, from the Tihama to the western and southern mountains, and in south-west Saudi Arabia (Tihama and Asir); in Oman scarce in Dhofar. Hosts are mainly Rüppell's Weaver (Ploceus galbula) and Arabian Golden Sparrow (Passer euchlorus). Elsewhere in the region a vagrant. Arabian birds probably winter in East Africa. Beyond the region in almost all of sub-Saharan Africa.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From May to August it is easiest to find at weaver colonies in the wadis of the Tihama and south-west Saudi Arabia. Follow the rising call and look up into the acacias: the male often sits motionless on an open branch before setting off after a female in fast flight.
Conservation status
Not globally threatened and fairly common in its Arabian breeding range, although its status in Yemen is poorly known owing to little research. It depends on healthy populations of weavers and sparrows and on wadi vegetation.
Scientific name
Chrysococcyx caprius | (Boddaert, 1783)
Boddaert described the species in 1783 as Cuculus caprius; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Chrysococcyx was introduced in 1826 by Boie. Chrysococcyx comes from the Greek chrysos, 'gold', and kokkyx, 'cuckoo' — for the metallic green-and-gold upperparts. According to Jobling, caprius derives from the Latin cupreus, 'coppery' — for the metallic sheen of the plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cape of Good Hope.