Thick-billed cuckoo: Difference between revisions

The thick-billed cuckoo is a specialised [[brood parasite]] of [[helmetshrikes]],<ref name="avian"/> being known to almost exclusive parasitise three species in the [[red-billed helmetshrike|red-billed]] and [[chestnut-fronted helmetshrike]] in its eastern range and the [[chestnut-bellied helmetshrike]] in West Africa, so limiting its breeding range to closed canopy forest habitat of the host in this region<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Allport|first=Gary|last2=Fanshawe|first2=John|date=1994|title=Is the Thick-billed Cuckoo Pachycoccyx audeberti a forest dependent species in West Africa?|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302960010_Is_the_Thick-billed_Cuckoo_Pachycoccyx_audeberti_a_forest_dependent_species_in_West_Africa|journal=Malimbus|volume=16|pages=52-53|via=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302960010_Is_the_Thick-billed_Cuckoo_Pachycoccyx_audeberti_a_forest_dependent_species_in_West_Africa}}</ref>. In the case of the well-studied red-billed helmetshrike, the thick-billed cuckoo has caused probably the most dramatic reduction in nesting success by any brood parasitic bird, with one group of helmetshrikes unable to rear any of their own nestlings for five years and ten breeding attempts,<ref name="avian"/> with overall between 35 and 55 percent of nests parasitised. It is almost certain that the extinct Malagasy subspecies parasitised [[vanga]]s,<ref name="guide"/> which are related to the helmetshrikes. This species’ parasitism of the helmetshrikes may complement the similarly sized [[black cuckoo]] which exclusively parasitises [[bush shrike]]s.