The bronze-cuckoos of Australia are a group of small, inconspicuous cuckoos with various amounts of metallic-green highlights on the dorsal feathers, barred undersides, and (often) red eyes.   They are nest parasites of small passerines (thornbills, robins, fairy-wrens, etc.).   This is the Horsefield's bronze-cuckoo; it was photographed in a small woodland in Wollongong, on the coast of New South Wales.
           A close relative of the shining bronze-cuckoo is the similar bu somewhat more brightly marked shining bronze cuckoo.   The two species can be distinguished (in breeding season) by very different calls.

• Canon 40D, 500 mm IS lens plus 1.4X extender, fill-in flash (2009)