Sirkeer Malkoha

The sirkeer malkoha is a non-parasitic cuckoo of dry scrub forest and open woodland in the Indian subcontinent, 42 to 44 cm long. It is olive-brown above with a rufous underside and a long graduated tail broadly tipped in white. Its most distinctive feature is a curved red bill with a yellow tip, and long bristles like eyelashes around the eye that are thought to protect it when creeping through grass. The sexes look the same (Wikipedia, general species account).

It forages singly or in pairs, mostly on or near the ground and often on rocky ground, feeding on small lizards and insects and sometimes berries and seeds. It is very silent. Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012, listed as Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii).