Blue-faced malkoha
| Blue-faced malkoha | |
|---|---|
| Blue-faced Malkoha from Mysore, Karnataka, India | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota | 
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Chordata | 
| Class: | Aves | 
| Order: | Cuculiformes | 
| Family: | Cuculidae | 
| Genus: | Phaenicophaeus | 
| Species: | P. viridirostris | 
| Binomial name | |
| Phaenicophaeus viridirostris (Jerdon, 1840) | |
The blue-faced malkoha (Phaenicophaeus viridirostris) or small green-billed malkoha, is a non-parasitic cuckoo found in the scrub and deciduous forests of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It has a waxy, dark, blue-grey plumage on its upperparts and has a long tail with graduated white-tipped feathers. The throat and chin are dark with spiny pale feathers that are branched. The lower belly is a dull creamy to rufous colour. The bill is apple green, and a naked patch of blue skin surrounds the eye. The sexes are alike. The blue-faced malkoha is a bird of open forests and scrub jungle.