Golden-bellied Gerygone feeding Little Bronze Cuckoo chick

Cheong Weng Chun from Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia, located the nest of the Golden-bellied Gerygone (Gerygone sulphurea) high up in a tree in Taman Wetland Putrajaya in July 2005. The nest is a pear-shaped purse with a lateral entrance and a long tail (above left). Inside the nest was a chick of the Little Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx minutillus). The Gloden-bellied Greygone is the only proven brood-host of Little Bronze Cuckoo (Wells, 2007). Both foster parents fed the chick inside the nest (above right). One was even photographed removing a faecal sac from the chick after feeding (below left). The image below-right, shows the smaller foster parent feeding the larger cuckoo chick.

“This is the third nest built by the gerygone. Earlier this year, there were two nests built. However, nothing happened then. This third nest seems to be more successful and I have also witnessed the parasite female cuckoo (malayan bronze) approaching the nest one evening but the owner of the nest chased it away. The cuckoo was very still initially, and I wasn’t aware of its presence. I was sharing my experience with few staff about birdwatching and especially about the flyeater and cuckoo. I was pointing here and there, and suddenly pointed to a cuckoo! Wow!” wrote Weng Chung LINK 1 and LINK 2.

The images below show the adult Golden-bellied Gerygone with an insect in its bill (left) and the fledged Little Bronze Cuckoo chick (right).

Cheong Weng Chun
Malaysia
December 2011