Raffles's Malkoha
Raffles's malkoha (Rhinortha chlorophaea) is a species of cuckoo (family Cuculidae).
It was formerly often placed in Phaenicophaeus with the other malkohas, but it is a rather distinct species, with several autapomorphies and sexual dimorphism (which its presumed relatives all lack).
| Raffles's malkoha | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | Rhinortha Vigors, 1830 |
| Species: | R. chlorophaea |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhinortha chlorophaea (Raffles, 1822) | |
| Synonyms | |
| Cuculus chlorophaeus Raffles, 1822 | |
It might not even be very closely related to the true malkohas, but form a very basal lineage of cuckoos; in any case, its placement in a monotypic genus Rhinortha is well warranted.
It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Its diet consists of insects, including caterpillars, cicadas, crickets, beetles, and locusts.
During courtship, the male Raffles's malkoha has been observed to stand on the base of the female's outstretched wings and hold a frog in its bill. It is unclear whether the frog is a gift to the female or whether the male keeps it afterward.
References
- BirdLife International 2004. Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 July 2007.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia English article Raffles's malkoha, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.