# Blue malkoha

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The **blue malkoha** or **chattering yellowbill** (***Ceuthmochares aereus***) is a species of [cuckoo](/source/Cuckoo) in the family [Cuculidae](/source/Cuculidae). It was formerly conspecific with the [green malkoha](/source/Green_malkoha) until split in 2016. It is widely distributed across the [African tropical rainforest](/source/Tropical_and_subtropical_moist_broadleaf_forests).

## Description

The blue malkoha has a greyish belly, head and throat and a heavy yellow bill but [subspecies](/source/Subspecies) display some differences in [plumage](/source/Plumage) colouration. *C. aereus aereus* has a greenish and blue tail, wings and back, while *C. aereus flavirostris* has a blue tail, wings and back.

The blue malkoha feeds primarily on [insects](/source/Insect), particularly caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets; it will also take frogs, slugs, fruit, seeds and leaves. It moves through the tangled vegetation with a series of small hops, snatching prey as it travels. It will accompany other birds and [squirrels](/source/Squirrel), taking the insects flushed by them.

Unlike some other cuckoos the blue malkoha is not a [brood parasite](/source/Brood_parasite), instead it cares for its own young. Two white and creamy eggs are laid in a nest that is a rough mass of sticks suspended around 2–5 m above the ground. Both parents care for the young.

The blue malkoha is an uncommon species and rarely observed due to its secretive behaviour. However it is not considered [threatened](/source/Threatened), and is listed as [least concern](/source/Least_concern) by the [IUCN](/source/IUCN).

## Subspecies

The blue malkoha has two subspecies:

- *C. a. flavirostris* ([Swainson](/source/William_Swainson), 1837) - [Gambia](/source/The_Gambia) to southwest [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria)
- *C. a. aereus* ([Vieillot](/source/Louis_Pierre_Vieillot), 1817) - Nigeria to western [Kenya](/source/Kenya), northern [Zambia](/source/Zambia) and [Angola](/source/Angola), [Bioko](/source/Bioko)

## References

- Payne, R.B (2005) *The Cuckoos*. Oxford University Press: Oxford ISBN 0-19-850213-3

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Blue malkoha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_malkoha) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_malkoha?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.