Mentawai Malkoha
Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus
Endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the coast of western Sumatra. A strange-looking large cuckoo with a brightly-colored bill, bright red face, and long tail. In good lighting, also note greenish gloss on the body. Unique and unmistakable in its limited range. Inhabits forest, where it clumps about in the canopy and mid-story, looking somewhat mammalian in its movements. Gives a series of odd, hollow-sounding knocking calls. Formerly treated as a subspecies of much more widespread Chestnut-breasted Malkoha.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Phaenicophaeus
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Clibanornis dendrocolaptoides
Large, long-tailed ovenbird, rusty above and grayish below. Note the buff eyebrow and black spots at the sides of the throat. Found in montane forest and old second growth; often associated with bamboo or dense understory, usually near streams. Behavior poorly known, but forages in pairs both arboreally and terrestrially. Song is a loud series of staccato notes.
Besra
Tachyspiza virgata
A medium-sized Accipiter of forested areas. Adult grayish brown above with a grayer head and neck, pale underparts with orange barring and blotches, and distinctive dark line in center of white throat. Coloration overall recalls Crested Goshawk, but the goshawk is much bulkier. Juvenile browner overall, with vertical brown streaking on the breast and belly.
Timor Heleia
Heleia muelleri
A rather distinctive small green songbird with a yellow face, a bold black line through the eye, black scalloping on the crown, and streaked light yellow underparts. Juveniles plainer, with little or no streaking on crown and underside. Found in pairs or groups in forest within lowlands and foothills, usually occupying the canopy or subcanopy. Combination of streaked underside and absence of white eye-ring is unique among white-eyes in range. Call is a penetrating, rowdy monotonous squabbling: “wikikikikikikiki….”. Also gives a weak “seer” call.
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