Green-billed Malkoha
Phaenicophaeus tristis
Gray cuckoo with a remarkably long tail. Note dark red facial skin, pale greenish-yellow bill, and dark green gloss on the wings and tail. Chestnut-bellied and Black-bellied Malkohas can be similar; note Green-billed’s thin white border around the facial skin, dark eyes, and overall paler head and breast. Found in lowland and foothill forests and forest edges, as well as dense scrub and cultivated areas. Creeps through foliage like a squirrel. Gives various amphibian-like clucks and croaks.
Identification
Green-billed malkoha is about 50–60 cm centimetres long and weighs 100–128 g. It often has a clear white boarder to the red face patch salty grey on the face and neck. Adult green-billed malkoha has dark grey with green gloss above, oily green wings.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Phaenicophaeus tristis
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP, 1830)
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Phaenicophaeus
Range and habitat
Its breeding habitat is Primary forest, second growth, dense thickets, scrub, cultivated areas, rubber plantations across south Asia east from Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asia.<p>It mainly lives on insects, but also is known to catch small lizards and small mammals. occasionally catches insects in flight, like a flycatcher!
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner
Automolus lammi
Cinnamon above and paler below; note the striking white throat and pale eyes. Found in the understory of a precious few patches of humid forest and old second growth, where it usually accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is a vigorous fast series of 4–6 harsh nasal “ki-dee” notes. The similar-looking but geographically distant White-eyed Foliage-gleaner’s song is very different (a fast series of 5–7 slurred notes).
Planalto Slaty-Antshrike
Thamnophilus pelzelni
Small antshrike found in the lower and middle levels of dry forests and at the edge of humid forests. Males are gray overall with a black crown, and white-spotted black wings and tail. Females have a rusty crown, back, and tail, are buff below with white spots on the wings. The song is a loud and long series of around 20 descending notes that accelerate in pace. Doesn’t overlap in range with similar Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike and is told from Variable Antshrike by paler gray plumage in males and richer rufous color in females.
Gray-breasted Spiderhunter
Arachnothera modesta
Olive-yellow above with a streaked gray breast and belly. Fainter streaking that does not reach all the way to the vent, a paler belly, and a longer, more decurved bill distinguish it from slightly larger Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter. Forages actively at low and middle levels of lowland and hill forest. Produces a squeaky “tshe-yee tshe-yee!”, like wet shoes squeaking on a smooth surface.
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