The green-billed malkoha is a species of non-parasitic cuckoo found throughout the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The birds are waxy bluish black with a long graduated tail with white tips to the tail feathers. The bill is prominent and curved. These birds are found in dry scrub and thin forests.
Region
Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from the Indian Subcontinent through Myanmar and mainland Southeast Asia into Peninsular Malaysia. It favors dry scrub, secondary growth, forest edge, gardens with dense thickets, and open woodland. Usually stays in mid-story to lower canopy, moving deliberately among foliage. More common at edges than in dense interior forest but may enter lightly wooded interiors.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The green-billed malkoha is an arboreal, non-parasitic cuckoo that skulks through scrub and forest edges in South and Southeast Asia. Its long, graduated tail with white tips and prominent green, downcurved bill make it distinctive. It often joins mixed-species flocks and helps control outbreaks of hairy caterpillars that many birds avoid.
Temperament
secretive and deliberate
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with gliding between cover
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups, and frequently accompanies mixed-species flocks. Builds its own nest in dense shrubs or small trees; both sexes share incubation and feeding duties. Non-parasitic despite belonging to the cuckoo family.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives low, throaty coos and clucking notes, along with soft chattering calls from inside cover. Phrases are repeated in short series and can carry surprisingly far in still conditions.
Plumage
Sleek, waxy-looking slate-grey to bluish-black upperparts with a very long, graduated tail showing bold white tips; underparts paler grey to whitish.
Diet
Primarily consumes large insects such as caterpillars (including hairy species), grasshoppers, mantises, and beetles. Will also take small lizards and occasionally berries. Forages methodically, gleaning from foliage and probing clusters of leaves.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in dense shrubs, vine tangles, forest edges, and secondary growth, from understory to mid-canopy. Often works along hedgerows and scrubby margins near cultivation.
