Overview
The Black-and-yellow Broadbill (Eurylaimus ochromalus) is a flamboyantly decorated, charismatic suboscine passerine native to the pristine lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia’s Sundaland. Belonging to the family Eurylaimidae, this delightful canopy jewel is famous for its outsized, neon turquoise-and-yellow bill, bold harlequin plumage, and its eerie, accelerating territorial trill that resonates through the tropical jungle morning.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Eurylaimus ochromalus is instantly recognized by its striking chromatic pattern: a velvety black head and mantle, a pristine snow-white collar band, a wine-pink chest wash, and bright sunny-yellow streaks along its wings and back. Its most arresting feature is its broad, boat-shaped bill, which glows with vivid electric turquoise-blue and lemon-yellow margins. This heavy bill is flattened and broad, terminating in a hooked tip custom-built to snatch large winged insects from rainforest foliage in mid-flight. Large, brilliant lemon-yellow irises confer acute stereoscopic vision in dim subcanopy shadows.
Behavior and Ecology
Operating primarily in the middle and upper levels of primary rainforest, the black-and-yellow broadbill hunts by sallying from shaded perches, plucking cicadas, stick insects, and praying mantises from tree leaves before returning to bash the prey against a limb. Pairs are cooperative breeders that weave an enormous, pendulous bag nest suspended from slender tree branches over streams or forest gaps, constructed from moss, palm fibers, and rootlets with an entrance hole shaded by an overhanging porch to deter nest predators.
Conservation and Human Impact
The species is currently classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN, having suffered significant population declines across its Sundaland range. The primary driver is extensive lowland deforestation driven by commercial timber logging, rubber plantations, and industrial oil palm expansion. Because the species depends on mature, tall-canopy lowland forest, preserving large contiguous national parks (such as Taman Negara in Malaysia and Danum Valley in Borneo) is paramount to ensuring its long-term survival.
Interesting Factoid
The Black-and-yellow Broadbill’s bill looks like it was painted with luminous neon turquoise and yellow paint, and its courtship song sounds exactly like an old wind-up toy ticking faster and faster until it bursts into a loud whistle!
Last updated: October 2026