The Diederik Cuckoo formerly Dideric Cuckoo or Didric Cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo

Cuckoo

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

 order of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunner

Geococcyx

The roadrunners are two species of bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, native to North and Central America...

s, the anis

Ani (bird)

The anis are the three species of near-passerine birds in the genus Crotophaga of the cuckoo family. They are essentially tropical New world birds, although the range of two species just reaches the United States...

, and the Hoatzin

Hoatzin

The Hoatzin , also known as the Hoactzin, Stinkbird, or Canje Pheasant, is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riverine forest and mangrove of the Amazon and the Orinoco delta in South America...

.

It is a very common resident breeder in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 south of the Sahara Desert. It is a short-distance seasonal migrant

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

, moving with the rains. It is a solitary bird, found in open woodland, savanna and riverside bushes. Has occurred as far north as Cyprus (1982).

The Diederik Cuckoo is a brood parasite. It lays its single egg

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

 mostly in the nests of weaver, especially Village Weaver

Village Weaver

The Village Weaver , also known as the Spotted-backed Weaver or Black-headed Weaver , is a species of bird found in much of sub-Saharan Africa...

 and the bishops in the genus Euplectes

Euplectes

Euplectes is a genus of passerine bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It contains the bishops and widowbirds. They are all native to Africa south of the Sahara...

.

The Diederik Cuckoo is a smallish cuckoo at 18 to 20 cm. Adult males are green above with copper-sheened areas on the back and whitish underparts. They have a broken white eyestripe, a green moustauchial stripe, and green outer tail feather

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...

s with small white spots.

Females show more copper above, and have coppery barring on the flanks. The underparts are often washed brownish. Juveniles are more copper-coloured above and browner below than the females, and the flank markings are brown blotches.

The Diederik Cuckoo takes a variety of insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s and caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s. It is a noisy species, with the persistent and loud deed-deed-deed-deed-er-ick call from which it gets its name. Usually four clear, roughly identical, notes followed by a little twitter.