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Malaysian hawk-cuckoo

species of bird

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ1037230 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Malaysian hawk-cuckoo or Malay hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx fugax) is a bird in the family Cuculidae formerly considered conspecific with Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo and the rufous hawk-cuckoo. All three species were previously assigned as Cuculus fugax.

Geographic range

Hierococcyx fugax is found in far southern Burma, southern Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra and western Java.

Habitat

The Malaysian hawk-cuckoo occurs in a variety of forest types from plains level up to 1700 metres on Sumatra. It can also be found in cocoa and rubber plantations.

Diet and foraging

Insects, mainly caterpillars, but also cicadas, beetles, small butterflies and locusts, in addition fruits and berries. Active in bushes and understorey, gleaning prey from foliage.

Behaviour

Hawk-cuckoos are brood parasites and recorded hosts include the white-rumped shama and the grey-headed canary flycatcher.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Malaysian hawk-cuckoo” is species of bird. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Malaysian, hawk-cuckoo and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1700—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Malaysian, hawk-cuckoo and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of bird” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1037230. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1700.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Malaysian hawk-cuckoo”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Malaysian hawk-cuckoo primary sources, Malaysian hawk-cuckoo archive and Malaysian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Malaysian hawk-cuckoo”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Malaysian hawk-cuckoo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.