Rhinortha chlorophaea
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Raffles's malkoha (Rhinortha chlorophaea) is a species of cuckoo (family Cuculidae). It was formerly often placed in Phaenicophaeus with the other malkohas, but it appears to not be very closely related to the true malkohas. It exhibits several autapomorphies and sexual dimorphism (which its presumed relatives all lack).
It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. It was once found in Singapore but is now considered extirpated. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Its diet consists of insects, including caterpillars, cicadas, crickets, beetles, and locusts.
During courtship, the male Raffles's malkoha has been observed to stand on the base of the female's outstretched wings and hold a frog in its bill. It is unclear whether the frog is a gift to the female or whether the male keeps it afterward. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 7 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 10 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Raffles's Malkoha sighting in Kuala Lumpur on a given day, based on 216 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 64th most-seen of the 228 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Raffles's Malkoha in Kuala Lumpur on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month.
Between 1 and 4 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Raffles's Malkoha sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Kuala Lumpur, in our data
Kuala Lumpur is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Raffles's Malkoha sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the Raffles's Malkoha that you can see in Kuala Lumpur (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Asian Koel (about 30%), Plaintive Cuckoo (about 20%) and Asian Drongo-Cuckoo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Raffles's Malkoha is recorded against all the birds logged in Kuala Lumpur (216 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
