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Rhamphococcyx
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Yellow-billed Malkoha Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus Scientific name definitions

Robert B. Payne
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 1997

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

53 cm. Adult back rufous-maroon above, crown and face dark grey, wings dark purple, tail black; throat and breast rufous, belly dark grey; iris red; bill deep, curved, yellow above, tip black with white spot, below nostril and lower mandible red. Juvenile resembles adult, but iris brown, bill yellow. Race calyorhynchus darker; meridionalis paler on crown and below; rufiloris has feathering above lores dark rufous, rather than grey.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Has been considered closely related to Phaenicophaeus curvirostris, which is sometimes placed (together with P. oeneicaudus) in present genus; all have previously been included in Zanclostomus. Proposed race centralis (from C Sulawesi) appears inseparable from meridionalis. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus calyorhynchus Scientific name definitions

Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus calyorhynchus
R. c. calyorhynchus

Distribution

N, E and SE Sulawesi and Togian Is.
SUBSPECIES

Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus meridionalis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

C and SW Sulawesi.
SUBSPECIES

Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus rufiloris Scientific name definitions

Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus rufiloris
R. c. rufiloris

Distribution

Butung, off SE Sulawesi.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Inhabits secondary forest and forest edge, also coconut plantations, riverine vegetation near villages. Occurs from sea-level up to 1300 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects, including hairy caterpillars, locusts and mantids, and beetles. Hops and creeps around the canopy like a squirrel; follows macaque monkey groups and catches insects flushed by the monkeys; also follows Centropus celebensis.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Call a short winding-up rattle.

Breeding

Breeds Nov–Dec. Nest undescribed. Eggs white; 36 x 31 mm; clutch size not recorded. Although apparently a nesting species, a juvenile was fed by a Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) in Sulawesi.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Very little known about status, but occurrence at forest edge, in coconut groves and relatively near human habitation may suggest certain adaptability; biology also poorly known, research required. Common in suitable habitat in Dumoga-Bone National Park in mid-1980s.
Distribution of the Yellow-billed Malkoha - Range Map
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  • Migration
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Distribution of the Yellow-billed Malkoha

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Payne, R. B. (2020). Yellow-billed Malkoha (Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yebmal1.01
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