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Lesser Cuckooshrike Lalage fimbriata Scientific name definitions

Barry Taylor
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

19–20·5 cm; 28–30 g. A small, short-tailed cuckoo-shrike with a rather fine bill. Male of nominate race has crown and upperparts dark slaty grey, being paler on rump and uppertail-coverts; lores and ear-­coverts darker; wings black with glossy feather margins, lesser upperwing-coverts edged slaty grey; rectrices black, tipped greyish or white; throat and underparts, including underwing-coverts, dark slaty grey, becoming progressively paler towards abdomen and undertail-coverts; iris brown to red-brown; bill and legs are black. Differs from L. melaschistos in smaller size, less graduated tail with less white at tips; from L. polioptera in lack of pale wing edgings. Female is paler grey above, ear-coverts and supercilium scaled dusky and whitish, white broken eyering, wings dark grey, wing-coverts edged pale greyish, remiges edged and tipped white, whitish patch on inner webs of some primaries and secondaries, greyish-white underparts barred dusky black. Juvenile not fully described; immature like female but paler, with variable barring on rump and uppertail-coverts, young female with reduced white on inner webs of primaries and secondaries. Races differ in size and in depth of coloration: compta is smaller than nominate, head less black; culminata is smaller and slightly less dark than previous; schierbrandi is same size as last, but darker; neglecta is largest and palest race.

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.

See L. melaschistos. In past, sometimes considered conspecific variously with L. melaschistos, L. melanoptera and/or L. polioptera. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Lalage fimbriata neglecta Scientific name definitions

Lalage fimbriata neglecta
L. f. neglecta +1

Distribution

S Myanmar (S Tenasserim) and S Thailand.
SUBSPECIES

Lalage fimbriata culminata Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia.
SUBSPECIES

Lalage fimbriata schierbrandi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Sumatra and Borneo.
SUBSPECIES

Lalage fimbriata compta Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Simeulue and Siberut (off W Sumatra).
SUBSPECIES

Lalage fimbriata fimbriata Scientific name definitions

Lalage fimbriata fimbriata
L. f. fimbriata +1

Distribution

Java and Bali.

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

Forest, secondary growth, peatswamp-forest, farmland; lowlands to 1000 m, occasionally to 1500 m.

Movement

None recorded.

Diet and Foraging

Food mainly insects, including caterpillars (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera), beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera); also flower spiders (Araneae), and some fruit and seeds taken. Forages in canopy; joins mixed-species flocks.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a repeated, loud “whit-it-it-chui-choi” and so on; also has rapid series of “whit” notes and, when alarmed, a squeaky, nasal, repeated “wherrrh” and high “whit-weei”.

Breeding

Dependent juveniles in May and Jul in Peninsular Malaysia. Nest a small, neat cup placed on horizontal tree branch. Eggs 2. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Generally uncommon. Reasonably common in S Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, but rare in Singapore; rather scarce and local in Greater Sundas. Regarded as “Near-threatened” in Malay Peninsula as a result of destruction of forest habitat. Occurs in a few protected areas, including Taman Negara National Park, in Peninsular Malaysia, Danum Valley Conservation Area, in Borneo, and Gunung Gede-Pangrango National Park, in Java and Bali.
Distribution of the Lesser Cuckooshrike - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
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Distribution of the Lesser Cuckooshrike

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Taylor, B. (2020). Lesser Cuckooshrike (Lalage fimbriata), 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.lescus1.01
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