Scale-feathered Malkoha
Also known as: Scale-feathered cuckoo · Cuming's malkoha
Definition
The scale-feathered malkoha (Phaenicophaeus cumingi) is a large, striking cuckoo endemic to the Philippines, confined to Luzon, Catanduanes, and Marinduque. It displays a white hood, red eye-patch, yellowish bill, and a line of scaled feathers running from the bill over the crown, set off by a rufous neck and back and black underparts and tail. The species was named after the British collector Hugh Cuming.
Identities (Wikipedia/Wikidata/DBpedia)
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale-feathered_malkoha
- Wikidata: Q523212
- DBpedia: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Scale-feathered_malkoha
Also Known As
- Scale-feathered cuckoo
- Cuming’s malkoha
Examples and Analogies
Malkohas are non-parasitic cuckoos that build their own nests, and the scale-feathered malkoha is often described as the Luzon counterpart of the Rough-crested malkoha of the Visayas and Mindanao, each island group carrying its own spectacular representative of the lineage.
Usage Scenarios
The species is a prized sighting on birdwatching walks in Luzon’s forest parks and reserves, and it appears in biodiversity education materials as an example of a bird found nowhere outside the Philippines.
Strategies
Birders find it by patient scanning of the sub-canopy, where small groups move deliberately through vines in search of insects, caterpillars, and small fruit; its size and pale head make it unmistakable once seen.
Security and Safety Measures
The species is covered by Philippine wildlife protection law, which bars its collection or trade, and forest reserves in its range afford it the strongest practical protection.
Historical Context
Described from specimens gathered during the nineteenth-century natural history expeditions that catalogued Luzon’s birds, the species has persisted near the fringes of the island’s remaining forests and remains one of the more conspicuous endemics of the Luzon faunal region.
Challenges and Controversies
Habitat loss in the Sierra Madre and other Luzon lowland forests remains the main long-term pressure, and its restricted three-island range gives it less buffer than widely distributed species.