Hose's Broadbill Calyptomena hosii Scientific name definitions

19–21 cm; male 102–115 g, female 92 g. Male is bright iridescent green above, with forehead tuft hiding most of bill; thin pale green eyering, black spot before eye, black patch behind ear-coverts, black patch on nape and another across top of mantle, prominent black rounded spots  on wing-coverts; flight-feathers black, edged green; below , indigo-blue on breast  and deep blue on belly  and undertail-coverts; iris blackish; bill horn-coloured to blackish; legs and feet dark olive. Distinguished from other Calyptomena by blue on underparts, from C. viridis also by spots rather than bars on wing. Female has smaller forehead tuft, paler upperparts slightly olive-tinged, black on head restricted to small spot in front of the eye, prominent lime-green eyering, paler lime-green underparts with sky-blue on belly and undertail-coverts. Juvenile is like female, but male has dark feathers on lower nape; immature male like adult, but most of black head markings lacking, blue below less extensive.

N & C Borneo, patchily from Mt Kinabalu S to the Müller Range and Kayan Mentarang and E to Sangkulirang Peninsula (1 Eames, J.C. (2005). A preliminary ornithological assessment and conservation evaluation of the PT Daisy logging concession, Berau district, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Forktail 21: 51–60. Close ).

Upper zone of mixed dipterocarp forest  on hill slopes, and lower montane forest; also forest dominated by limestone pinnacles, and lowland forest on mountain slopes. To c. 1220 m, usually above 600 m, occasionally as high as c. 1680 m.

Resident; probably makes some local movements, depending on seasonality of fruiting trees.

Mostly fruit, including figs (Ficus), also unidentified soft greyish-yellow berries; once observed eating small orange figs c. 1 × 1 cm in size and covered in short, spiny hairs. Also recorded eating leaf buds, and some insects. Forages usually at lower levels, and singly, in pairs, or in small groups; parties of 6–8 gather at fruiting fig trees.

Only call  recorded, uttered during bobbing head movements, is a pleasing, soft, cooing  like that of a dove (Columbidae).

Few records, covering Apr–Oct. Nest a delicate hanging structure; one found recently measured c. 25 × 15 cm, was made of dead leaves of broadleaf plants, rattans and bamboos, and covered in green moss and lichens, with a hanging “tail” of rattan leaves, and suspended from tip of a low drooping branch c. 1·5 m high of an understorey tree. Two clutches were of 2 and 4 eggs; incubation and fledging periods not known.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Bornean Mountains EBA. Locally common, but rare at some sites (e.g. Mt Kinabalu). Occurs in Gunung Mulu National Park. Areas where it is common are undisturbed forest. In Sarawak, becomes rare in forest after logging activities. Although absent from some apparently suitable habitats, it may yet prove to be more widespread than records indicate, particularly in C Borneo. Lowland forest in the region has been severely reduced, and is expected to have been destroyed completely within less than a decade. The species’ preference for submontane habitats could assist its survival, at least in the short term.