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.
Region
South Asia (peninsular India and Sri Lanka)
Typical Environment
Found widely in peninsular India and across the lowlands and dry zones of Sri Lanka. Prefers open forests, dry and moist deciduous woodland, scrub jungle, secondary growth, and forest edges. Often occurs in thorn scrub, bamboo thickets, and along riverside vegetation, avoiding dense evergreen interiors. It adapts to modified habitats such as plantations and large, wooded gardens where cover is available.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the small green-billed malkoha, it is a non-parasitic cuckoo that forages through scrub and open woodland, often keeping low and skulking through thickets. Its striking apple-green bill and bare blue facial skin make it easy to recognize at close range. Unlike many cuckoos, it builds its own nest and raises its young.
Like all cuckoos, malkohas have zygodactyle feet, two toes pointing forward and two to the back.
A painting of the blue-faced malkoha by Lady Elizabeth Gwillim (1763–1807), made before the bird had been given its scientific name
The nostril shapes used to separate Rhopodytes and Phaenicophaeus
Temperament
shy and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups moving methodically through dense cover. It is non-parasitic and constructs a shallow twig nest concealed in thick vegetation. Both sexes are believed to share nesting duties, and the species may occasionally join mixed-species foraging parties at forest edges.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are a series of low, guttural croaks, clucks, and chattering notes. Also gives repeated kow or tok calls that carry through scrub. Calls often delivered from within cover rather than exposed perches.
Plumage
Waxy dark blue-grey upperparts with a very long, graduated tail tipped white; underparts darker on the breast with dull creamy to rufous lower belly. Throat and chin show spiny, pale, filamentous feathers. Bare blue skin surrounds the eye and contrasts with the apple-green bill.
Diet
Feeds mainly on large insects such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, mantids, and beetles. Also takes small lizards and other small vertebrates when available. Will supplement its diet with berries and other soft fruits, especially in the dry season. Foraging is deliberate, picking prey from foliage, creepers, and branches.
Preferred Environment
Hunts within dense shrubs, thorny thickets, vine tangles, and along forest edges. Frequently forages a few meters above ground and occasionally descends to the ground to pounce on prey. Uses cover to move quietly while scanning leaves and branches.
