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| Red-faced
Malkoha (Lester Perera) |
@ WWW Virtual Library Sri Lanka
Little-known Oriental bird: Red-faced Malkoha
by Richard A. Fuller and Johannes Erritzøe, from OBC Bulletin 26, November 1997.
The cuckoos are a fascinating group with a cosmopolitan distribution, and exhibit great diversity of form and life history. Owing to their generally secretive nature, many cuckoos are among the least known of the Worlds birds, and the Red-faced Malkoha, Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus, is no exception.
The large-billed and boldly patterned malkohas are restricted to the Oriental region, and are represented in Sri Lanka by Blue-faced Malkoha, Phaenicophaeus viridirostris, Sirkeer Malkoha, P. leschenaultii, and Red-faced Malkoha, P. pyrrhocephalus. The former are also found in South India, but even the distributional range of the last remains the subject of controversy. This article aims to provide a summary of current knowledge, indicate the status of current populations and examine possible future trends.
Taxonomy
The Red-faced Malkoha was described in 1769 by an illustration in Thomas
Pennants Indian Zoology as Cuculus pyrrhocephalus. Joan Gideon Loten, who
collected the first examples, commissioned Pieter Cornelis de Bevere to paint
plates of his living or freshly dead specimens, as methods for the preservation
of skins were then poorly developed. Loten loaned these outstanding plates to
various zoologists at the time, who described many species from his work.
Pennants work can still be found in the library of the British Museum, but there
is no trace at that institution of Lotens specimens, also thought to be
deposited there. (16,21) This form subsequently became the type of
Phaenicophaeus Stephens (Shaws Gen. Zool., 9, pt. 1, 1815, p. 58). The genus has
variously been considered to contain up to twelve species, but is now sometimes
treated as monotypic, following Peters (17) and later authors but contra Sibley
and Monroe. (18)
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| Red-faced
Malkoha (Lester Perera) |
Distribution and
Habitat
Within Sri Lanka, the range of the Red-faced Malkoha has been contracting for
many years, in parallel with the drastic reduction in forest cover. Legge shot a
pair as far north as Trincomalee in about 1870, when 70-80% of the island was
covered with forest (Hoffmann in litt. ), but it is probable that the main
centre of the range has always been in the wet zone (south-western part of the
island) where the main requirement seems to be tall, undisturbed, heavy forest
with dense, tangled undergrowth. It is rarely seen near cultivation.20 Remaining
isolated populations within the dry zone (north and east Sri Lanka) are found
exclusively in riverine forests such as Wasgomuwa National Park, along the Heen
Ganga, and Kumbukkan Oya, Menik Ganga and at Lahugala. (10) It is probably rarer
in the dry zone than in the wet zone. There is great vertical utilisation of the
forest. Most reports indicate that it prefers the foliage canopy of trees and
shrubs, but it also descends almost to the ground especially where the
understorey is thick (Warakagoda, in litt. ). It is said by Fisher et al. 6 to
favour undergrowth, and indeed may breed at lower levels within the forest.
The Red-faced Malkoha has been reported from sea level up to 1700 m. (2) A specimen (1951 (25) (30)) in the British Museum of Natural History at Tring (BMNH) was collected on 15th August 1950 at Haputale at a stated altitude of 1539 m, although there are doubts that it still occurs regularly at such altitude. Many contemporary observers have not observed this species at high elevations, and de Silva (in litt. ) has suggested that fragmentation of formerly continuous forest cover has denied the Red-faced Malkoha access to the highlands. It is possible that it is (or was) a seasonal altitudinal migrant. Further detailed study is required to test this hypothesis.
Although the Red-faced Malkoha is considered by many authors to be one of the 26 species restricted to Sri Lanka, there is a couple of controversial and intriguing records from the Tamil Nadu and Kerala provinces of South India. Baker (3) indicates that it was found in the 'South of Travancore, where it was obtained by Stewart together with its nests'. This rather vague reference was followed in November 1931 with a report by C. H. Biddulph of a Red-faced Malkoha in the Madurai district of southern Tamil Nadu. This was eventually published in 19564 and, while accepted by Ali1 and Ali and Ripley, (2) is tantalisingly inconclusive. Salim Ali later agreed with the Ceylon Bird Club that lacking a specimen from India it should be treated as a Sri Lankan endemic. Biddulph says, 'I noted its approximate size and shape, colouration, shape of beak and length of tail in relation to the body', but unfortunately does not give these details in the note. See Hoffmann (10) for a reasoned rejection of this record, who demonstrates that it would not stand up to a modern records committee, but see also below. The habitat in the Madurai area is considered unsuitable for Red-faced Malkoha. (19) A 1935 Indian record referred to by Fisher et al. (6) is presumably an error.
Yet another twist in this story is provided by a recent note in the Newsletter for Birdwatchers (15) in which a sighting of this species near Madikeri in Karnataka province is reported. The observer and his wife described the bird independently and came to the conclusion that it was a Red-faced Malkoha. Following this, Hoffmann (11) reports receiving a painting of a 'Red-faced Malkoha' from a correspondent in Trivandrum - the bird depicted is considered by Hoffmann to most resemble the Green-billed Malkoha, P. tristis, a Lower Himalayan species! The safest treatment is to consider the Red-faced Malkoha a Sri Lankan endemic until watertight records for south India are published with descriptions. It is strange that such a distinctive species has been responsible for a debate of this nature.
Plumage and Variation
The Red-faced Malkoha is approximately the size of a Greater Coucal Centropus
sinensis (40-50 cm). Legge (13) indicates that the female may be the larger of
the two sexes, but measurements are too scanty to be sure. No weights have been
published. Biometrics of skins examined in BMNH (RF, pers. obs.) indicated that
males may be bigger and longer-billed, although shorter-tailed than females, but
sample sizes were small. It should be noted that these measurements are not
comparable with those taken from live birds as certain biometrics may change
with time from death, and great care has to be taken when measuring specimens to
avoid damage.
Adult Red-faced Malkohas are black above, glossed with metallic green and blue. The feathers of the crown, nape and chin are flecked with white, the extent of which is subject to marked individual variation. The throat and breast are also black, but the rest of the underparts are white. When viewed from underneath, as this species usually is, it appears strikingly black and white. The tail is long and graduated, and underneath appears black at the base and distally white or pied; it is black above with a white terminal bar. The crimson-red face is not bare, but composed of short, bristly hair-like feathers, and in many birds protrudes above the crown. The large, laterally compressed bill is apple-green, the lower mandible slightly paler, and is dusky towards the base and around the nostrils. Feet and legs are bluish, bluish green or slate blue. Bold patterning coupled with long tail, red face and green bill make this species extremely distinctive. However there is at least one seriously misleading description in the literature; Wikramanayake (22) asserts that, 'its green body and red face make identification a simple matter'! The plumage of the sexes is thought to be identical, but irides are white in females and brown in males. (2) Legge shot a male in tail moult in December 1871.