Sirkeer Malkoha

The sirkeer malkoha is a non-parasitic cuckoo, 42–44cm long, dark olive-brown above with a greenish gloss on the wings and tail and rufous below, with dark feather shafts that show as streaks on the breast. The long graduated tail is broadly tipped white. Its most distinctive feature is a curved red bill with a yellow tip, and long, curved bristles around the eye, like eyelashes, are thought to protect it when creeping through grass. The sexes look the same (Wikipedia, general species account).

It forages singly or in pairs on or near the ground, creeping between grass and bushes, often on rocky ground, and eats small lizards and insects and sometimes berries and seeds. It is a very silent bird. In courtship, pairs bow with the tail fanned and held upright, then raise their open bills skyward and make clicking sounds. The nest is a broad saucer of twigs lined with green leaves in a low bush or tree. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent, estimates a long-term decline in India of about 77%, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).