Sirkeer Malkoha

The sirkeer malkoha or sirkeer cuckoo (Taccocua leschenaultii), is a non-parasitic cuckoo found in dry scrub forest and open woodland habitats in the Indian subcontinent. The species is long-tailed, largely olive brown on the upper side with a distinctive curved red beak tipped in yellow. They forage singly or in pairs mainly on or close to the ground creeping between grasses and bushes, often on rocky habitats where they feed on small lizards, insects, and sometimes berries and seeds. They are very silent and the sexes are identical in plumage. The sirkeer cuckoo is about 42–44 cm long with dark olive brown on the back, wings and the central tail feathers. The underside is rufous. A greenish gloss is visible on the wing and dark parts of the tail feathers. The feathers have dark shafts which are especially prominent on the breast as streaks. The tail is graduated (with outer feathers being sequentially shorter) and tipped broadly in white. The upper tail coverts are long. The chin, throat and breast are pale. The most distinctive feature is the curved red bill with a yellow tip. The eyes have curved and long bristles around the eye but not behind it that resemble eyelashes (an adaptation to protect their eyes when creeping through grass and vegetation) and the iris is reddish brown. They have a short and pale whitish streak over and below the eye and a thin line of black feathers in line with the commissure of the bill that reaches under the eye. A dark bare patch of skin around the eye that tapers behind it exaggerates the size of the eye. The legs are grey.