Sirkeer Malkoha

Taxobox
name = Sirkeer Malkoha
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=47838|title=Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii|downloaded=11 May 2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern]


image_width= 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Cuculiformes
familia = Cuculidae
genus = "Phaenicophaeus"
species = "P. leschenaultii"
binomial = "Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii"
binomial_authority = (Lesson, 1830)
synonyms = "Taccocua leschenaultii"The Sirkeer Malkoha or Sirkeer Cuckoo ("Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii"), is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis, and the Hoatzin. It is a resident bird in the Indian subcontinent.

Distribution

All of the sub-Himalayan Indian subcontinent, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka; patchy in Pakistan and Rajasthan. Sometimes considered as three races, varying in colouration.

Description

* Size: A largish bird at 42cm.
* Appearance: Mainly earthy brown and rufous in colour, and the long heavy tail is edged with prominently white tipped graduated cross-rayed tail feathers. An obvious relation of the Coucal (Crow Pheasant)cite book
last = Ali
first = Salim
authorlink=Salim Ali (ornithologist)
coauthors = Sidney Dillon Ripley
title = Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, 2nd ed.,10 vols
year = 1986/2001
edition = 2nd
publisher=Oxford University Press
address = New DelhiBird Number 598] . Bill is hooked, bright cherry-red and yellow. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller and barred above.
* Habitat: Largely terrestrial, open scrub and thorn jungle, deciduous secondary jungle. Singly or in pairs.
* Behaviour: Stalks about amongst thickets like Crow-Pheasant, searching for food; insects, lizards, fallen fruits and berries, etc. Runs swiftly through undergrowth looking like mongoose. Feeble flier, but ascends trees rapidly, hopping from branch to branch with great agility, like the Coucal.
* Call: Normally a subdued "bzuk... bzuk" ; also a alarm call of "p'tang" with a metallic quality.>cite book
last = Ali
first = Salim
authorlink=Salim Ali (ornithologist)
coauthors = J C Daniel
title = The book of Indian Birds, Twelfth Centenary edition
year = 1983
publisher=Bombay Natural History Society/Oxford University Press
address = New Delhi] ("Glaucidium radiatum")

* Food: A variety of insects, caterpillars and small vertebrates. It occasionally eats berries.cite book
last = Grimmett
first = Richard
coauthors = Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp
collaborators = Sarath Kotagama and Shahid Ali
illustrators = Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Gerald Driessens, CarlD'Silva, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, Alan Harris, Peter Hayman, CraigRobson, Jan Wilczur, and Tim Worfolk
title = Guide to the Birds of Indian subcontinent
year = 1998
publisher= Christopher Helm
address = London
isbn= 0-691-04910-6 ]

Nesting

This cuckoo, like other Malkohas, is non-parasitic.

* Season - March to August (varying with latitude)
* Nest: a shallow saucer of twigs lined with green leaves, in a thorn bush such as "Euphorbia", or sapling 2 to 7 m up.
* Eggs: 2 or 3, white, with a chalky texture.

The scientific name of this bird commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour.

Gallery

References