A pair of adult Green-billed Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus tristis longicaudatus) foraging in bright sunlight that tolerated the presence of Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS and his camera nearby provided us with a close-up study of the bird. The location was the Tambun Interior, Perak, Malaysia and the date, 17th October 2009.
The Green-billed Malkoha can easily be confused with the Black-bellied Malkoha (P. diardi) which, to Amar’s experience, is less common, although their habitats overlap.
“The main differentiating features that are present in the Green-billed Malkoha but not the Black-bellied Malkoha are much longer tail in respect to the body; narrow white band extending around the red periorbital patch (best feature in the field) and slightly more conspicuous back shafts in the head and neck feathers (although not apparent in this image).
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