Chrysococcyx caprius

This common, intra-African summer migrant, with its diagnostic white wing spots, is named after its distinctive call; dee-dee-deederick. Summer in the african bush would not be the same without this iconic bird.

We first recorded this small, glossy green cuckoo in January 2010 while hiking a trail near the Cathedral Peak Hotel in the central Drakensberg. Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort, Kgomo Kgomo near Rust de Winter and Roodeplaat Dam Nature Reserve near Pretoria are all reliable spots for this summer visitor.

 
Also known: Diderick, Diederick, Diederick’s Cuckoo