Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus
Family: Cuckoos · Status: Uncommon resident · Size: 16.5–17 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Occurs from the Indian subcontinent to southern China and through the Thai-Malay Peninsula to the Greater Sundas and the Philippines.
Male has glossy violet-purple head, upper breast and upperparts, white lower breast to vent with dark indigo bars, and bright orange bill with red base. Female and juvenile have rufous-bronze forehead, crown, nape, white underparts with dark rufous bars, and a red-based yellowish bill; upperparts highly variable, ranging from mostly bright cinnamon-rufous with some green bars, to almost entirely emerald-green. Some are particularly green and can resemble female Asian Emerald Cuckoo, but that species shows a brighter rufous crown and nape, and more contrast between these areas and the rest of the upperparts.
Forest, forest edge, secondary growth, parks and gardens; also mangroves.
Frequents canopy. A known brood parasite of the Brown-throated Sunbird and Little Spiderhunter.