- Ceuthmochares aereus
Identification
- Grey belly, head and throat
- Heavy yellow bill
- Greeny-blue tail, wings and back
Distribution
Africa south of the Sahara
Western Africa: Senegambia, The Gambia, Nigeria, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po)
Taxonomy
Formerly considered conspecific with Green Malkoha under the name Yellowbill.
Subspecies[1]
Two subspecies recognized:
- C. a. flavirostris: blue tail, wings and back
- C. a. aereus:
Habitat
Dense forest to riverine forest and forest edges.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets, frogs, slugs. Also fruit, seeds and leaves.
Breeding
This cuckoo species does not parasitize other nests, both adults caring for their own young.
They build a rough nest of sticks suspended around 2-5 m above the ground. The clutch consists of 2 whitish-creamy eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue Malkoha. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue_Malkoha