An African cuckoo whose adult male is metallic green and which is widespread across the Afrotropics.
The adult male has a metallic green head and back, with a white eyebrow.
The Dideric Cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. Males are more conspicuous than females. At one breeding site in South Africa, researchers placed models of male or female cuckoos beside Southern Red Bishop nests. After each model presentation, they added a model egg that differed from the host's eggs and recorded the parents' responses.
Hosts that saw a male cuckoo model were more likely to reject the model egg than hosts that saw a female cuckoo or a harmless bird model. Female bishops were especially likely to reject an egg after seeing the male rather than the female cuckoo model. The study found no difference in the hosts' frontline nest defence toward male and female cuckoo models.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At one South African breeding site, Southern Red Bishops were more likely to reject model eggs after seeing a male Dideric Cuckoo model. Female bishops showed a higher response after the male model than after the female model.