Its size averages 22g[2] and is distinguished by its green and bronze iridescent colouring on its back and incomplete brown barring from neck to tail.

The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is one of five Australian species in the genus Chalcites (formerly Chrysococcyx) a type of parasitic bird,[3] that parasitises fairy-wrens primarily to raise their young.

[2][5] The main diet of the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is insects and they are nomadic, travelling to different regions of Australia to breed and find food.

[5] Small insects are taken from leaves, branches, caught on the wing and in breeding season, Horsfield's bronze cuckoos feed each other in a courtship ritual.

Breeding territories of the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo generally do not overlap giving rise to the possibility that a pair will defend an area through the season.

The breeding season for the superb fairy-wren is between September and February and a female may have three consecutive broods in this time, allowing the cuckoo multiple attempts to parasitise this species.

The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo chose females that would choose similar breeding sites to previous years and were likely to raise several broods in one season.