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WoodlandPlatform nestMedium · 67 g
ID tip
A largish species at 39 cm, its back and head are dark grey with an oily green or blue gloss, and the dark tail has graduated feathers tipped with white. The belly is pale ochre to grey. The feathers of the chin and throat are branched (unlike in Phaenicophaeus tristis) with the branched tips being pointed and slightly yellowish giving the throat a streaked and spiny appearance. There is a large blue patch around the eye, with a white fringed red iris, and the bill is apple green. The sexes are indistinguishable by external appearance.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Blue-faced Malkoha
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Blue-faced Malkoha
The map shades 2 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
About the Blue-faced Malkoha
The blue-faced malkoha or small green-billed malkoha, is a non-parasitic cuckoo found in the scrub and deciduous forests of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It has a waxy, dark, blue-grey plumage on its upperparts and has a long tail with graduated white-tipped feathers. The throat and chin are dark with spiny pale feathers that are branched. The lower belly is a dull creamy to rufous colour. The bill is apple green, and a naked patch of blue skin surrounds the eye. The sexes are alike. The blue-faced malkoha is a bird of open forests and scrub jungle.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Green-billed MalkohaPhaenicophaeus tristisGreen-billed malkoha is about 50–60 cm long and weighs 100–128 g.
Chestnut-breasted MalkohaPhaenicophaeus curvirostrisMeasuring 42–49 cm (17–19 in) in length, the chestnut-breasted malkoha has a large, curved, pale yellow upper mandible and darker red or black lower mandible, and a bare red patch of rough skin around the eye.
Black-bellied MalkohaPhaenicophaeus diardiThe black-bellied malkoha is a species of malkoha in the family Cuculidae.
Side by side: Blue-faced Malkoha vs Pallid Cuckoo · Blue-faced Malkoha vs Green-billed Malkoha · Blue-faced Malkoha vs Chestnut-breasted Malkoha
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