Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

Order - Cuculiformes
Family - Cuculidae (Cuckoos)

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

Phaenicophaeus curvirostris

栗胸地鹃 (lì-xiōng dì-juān)

    Malay : Cenuk Dada Coklat

    Japanese : チャムネバンケンモドキ (cha-mune ban-ken modoki)

    Kanji 日語漢字 : 茶胸番鵑擬き

Taxonomy update for 2024

The highly range-restricted island endemic Mentawai Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus) is split from Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris). Mantawai Malkoha differs in its green (vs. chestnut) belly, entirely green tail (vs. chestnut on the outer half) and generally darker plumage including its darker chestnut breast; the eye color difference shown here is due to sex (males in both species have pale blueish eyes, while females have orange or reddish eyes). The Mentawai archipelago west of Sumatra is increasingly known for endemic taxa.

    -  Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)
       RANGE: southern Myanmar (Tenasserim), through the Thai-Malay Peninsula
                      including Singapore, and on Sumatra and Bangka, Java and Bali, Borneo,
                      and the Palawan group in the southwestern Philippines.
    -  Mentawai Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus)
       RANGE: Mentawai Islands (off southwestern Sumatra).

    Size : 42–50 cm; Male 145–190 g, Female 163–167.6 g (nominate)

    

    Subspecies (5) and Distribution

• Phaenicophaeus curvirostris singularis (Parrot, CPA 1907)
  – southern Myanmar to southern Thailand, Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra.
• Phaenicophaeus curvirostris curvirostris (Shaw, G 1810)
  – western and central Java.
• Phaenicophaeus curvirostris deningeri (Stresemann, EFT 1913)
  – eastern Java and Bali.
• Phaenicophaeus curvirostris microrhinus (Berlepsch, HHCL 1895)
  – Borneo and Bangka Island.
• Phaenicophaeus curvirostris harringtoni (Sharpe, RB 1877)
  – southern Philippines (Palawan, Balabac, Busuanga, Culion, and Calauit).

Phaenicophaeus curvirostris ssp. singularis

Date : 20 May 2019

Location : Taman Negara Pahang (Sungai Relau), Merapoh, Daerah Lipis, Pahang

Phaenicophaeus curvirostris ssp. microrhinus

Date : 24 February 2018

Location : Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), Sandakan, Sabah