File:Female red-chested cuckoo, Raptors View Wildlife Estate, Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa. - 52475811837.jpg

English: A follow-on from my post of the a male red-chested cuckoo a couple of days ago, this is my first ever sighting of a female of the species. Oddly enough, they were on the ground outside my window, and I was only made aware of them by the female's loud raucous call that differs radically from that of the male. I disturbed them by sticking my camera out the window, so I don't know what they were doing. The male flew off to a thick clump of bushes at the other end of the house. The female flew into a small tree just outside my office window, and all the while keeping a wary eye on my camera in the window, she continued her raucous calls. You can see her calling in two of the images. Unfortunately there were a lot of branches in front of her, but I manage a few photos as the wind blew the branches aside. Getting this close to a female red-chested cuckoo is indeed a privilege!