Birds of the World
 - Malia
 - Malia
+2
 - Malia
Watch
 - Malia
Listen

Malia Malia grata Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar and Craig Robson
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated September 30, 2019

Sign in to see your badges

Field Identification

28 cm. Large babbler not unlike a Turdus thrush, dull olive-green above and bright greenish-yellow below. Nominate race has crown and upperparts dull yellowish olive-green, upperwing and tail green-tinged greyish-brown, underside lemon-yellow, brightest on chin and throat, with greenish-washed breast and flanks and dull yellow-tinged olive thighs and vent; lores and vague superciliary area yellow-stippled dull green, ear-coverts dull green with long thin yellowish streaks, submoustachial area yellow with vague dull greenish mottling; iris brown; upper mandible blackish, lower mandible yellowish; legs greenish-brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile apparently undescribed. Race <em>recondita</em> has wings and tail more greenish-tinged, bill smaller, lower mandible duller (less distinct from upper mandible); stresemanni has wings and tail strongly rufous-tinged, bill size as previous.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Has been treated as an aberrant bulbul (Pycnonotidae) or babbler (Timaliidae sensu lato), but initial molecular analysis places it within Locustellidae (1). Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies


SUBSPECIES

Malia grata recondita Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N Sulawesi.

SUBSPECIES

Malia grata stresemanni Scientific name definitions

Distribution

C and SE Sulawesi.

SUBSPECIES

Malia grata grata Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SW Sulawesi.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Primary montane forest, mossy ridgetop forest, and occasionally disturbed forest, at 900–2400 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Invertebrates, including beetles (Coleoptera) and grasshoppers (Orthoptera). Uses bill to dig in rotten wood, dislodge moss and loose bark, and glean from trunks and large branches. Usually in small parties of 3–7 individuals, sometimes in pairs, and generally accompanied by Sulawesi Drongo (Dicrurus montanus), Rusty-bellied Fantail (Rhipidura teysmanni), Yellow-billed Malkoha (Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus) and Sulawesi Leaf-warbler (Phylloscopus sarasinorum); sometimes forages close to Sulawesi dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus murinus) and whitish dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus leucomus).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song by group a loud mid-pitched cacophony of guttural warbling and rapid harsh chattering or grating sounds lasting for 2·2 seconds, repeated at intervals of 8–15 seconds; typically, one individual warbles while another gives continuous chatter or repeated grating note. Calling by group comprises a penetrating high whistle, “tiu”, repeated several times and immediately accompanied by rapid harsh “tsut-sut-ká-ká” (duration of bout 1–2·75 seconds, intervals 1·5–5·5 seconds); other calls include thin, high repeated alarm note when flushed. Group vocalizations often introduced by single individual giving hoarse upslur followed by harsh chatter; after 12–17 seconds other birds join in with calls of various types, including slurred “chit chit chit”, nasal squeals, insistent coarse nasal calls, and brief upslurred “squeow!” whistle; such calls given while foraging, mobbing intruder, registering presence of nearby hawk (Accipitridae).

Breeding

No information.
Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Sulawesi EBA. Widespread and locally moderately common. Fairly common (race recondita) in Gunung Ambang Nature Reserve, and present in Bogani Nani Wartabone (Dumoga Bone) National Park, in N Sulawesi; fairly common in Lore Lindu National Park, in NC Sulawesi.
Distribution of the Malia - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Malia

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Malia (Malia grata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.malia1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.