The Chestnut-breasted malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris), a cuckoo species belonging to the Cuculidae family, never fails to capture the attention of tourists with its charming and comical appearance.
This feathered creature, known for its clownlike demeanor, is predominantly found in Southeast Asia, spanning from Myanmar to eastern Java, the Philippines, and Borneo, as documented on Wikipedia. Impressively, these cuckoos can reach a substantial size, measuring up to 49 cm (19 inches) in length.
These cuckoos’ combination of a bright red face, staring pale eyes, and pale upper and red lower mandible lend them a clownlike countenance. Dark glossy greenish above, and rich chestnut-brown below, they are sluggish and mammal-like in movements and blend with the dense foliage in the middle floor of subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. Sometimes, they go foraging with other species in lowland and hill forests.
The males and females are similar in plumage, although the males usually have pale blue irises and the female have yellow ones. Unlike most of the cuckoo family, Chestnut-breasted malkohas aren’t brooding parasites. Besides, they build their nest and raise their own young. Breeding season varies by location, from August to December in Borneo to January to September in Southeast Asia.
That’s when the male and female pair up. Then, they build a nest around 35 cm (14 inches) in diameter of small branches and twigs, with a leaf-lined depression or cup around 11 cm (4.3 inches) in diameter and 5 cm (2.0 inches) deep. Afterward, a couple of about 34 x 28 mm matte white eggs are born. Both the mom and dad birds incubate the eggs, which usually hatch around 13 days after being laid. Young birds are fed by both parents. They stay safe inside the nest for around 11 days before starting to step outside for the first time.
They are carnivores, indeed. Their meals are mall vertebrates, such as small lizards, frogs, insects, bugs, small crabs, and even baby birds. Because their food sources are various, they are barely short on nutrition. Additionally, thanks to rich food supplies, they can easily grow up to the max size and reproduce well.
Chestnut-breasted malkohas were first found and described from a collected specimen in western Java by George Shaw, an English naturalist, as Cuculus curvirostris in 1810. At the moment, this species is pretty common. There is no record of any declines or substantial threats to tag its existence as endangered.
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