Scientific Name
Phaenicophaeus tristis
Status
Least Concern
Size
Length: 50 - 60 cm
Weight: 100 - 128 g
Diet
Insects and other invertebrates, such as large caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, and termites. It also occasionally eats small vertebrates like frogs and lizards, and includes some fruit, seeds, and leaves in its diet.
Appearance
The Green-billed Malkoha is a dark bluish-grey bird with a distinctive pale greenish-yellow bill and a prominent patch of dark red bare skin around its eyes. It has a long, graduated bluish-black tail with white tips, and the upper-parts and wings have a dark green gloss. Its head is a paler grey, with a thin white border around the facial skin, and its feet are dark grey.
Distribution
The Green-billed Malkoha is found throughout Thailand. It prefers dry scrub, thin forests, dense thickets, and secondary growth. It is also found in cultivated areas and plantations.
The Green-billed Malkoha is the most common of the six malkoha species, found in Thailand. They commonly forage in pairs or small family groups, moving through tangled vegetation with a series of small hops to catch prey. They will often follow other birds to take advantage of insects flushed out by them.
Green-billed Malkohas breed between March and August, with nests being small platforms of twigs lined with green leaves.
