Habits
Singly or in pairs. Small groups at feeding trees.
Food
Fruits, particularly figs, and some insects.
Voice
A quiet, unusual 'bouncing ball-like' trill 'boi, boi, boi-boi-boi-boik', starting slowly and increasing in tempo. Also a much quieter 'kwoo kwoo', often uttered while feeding.
Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis) [XC498390]
by Frank Lambert from North Siberut, Kepulauan Mentawai, West Sumatra, Indonesia (call, song)
Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis) [XC88322]
by Frank Lambert from Fraser's Hill, Pahang, Malaysia (call)
Nest
Gourd-shaped composed of woven plant material, suspended from a horizontal branch, often in understorey.
Subspecies
Distinctive subspecies siberu may warrant species status. Birds from southern Myanmar south to central Malay Peninsula described as subspecies continentis, but indistinguishable from earlier-named taxon caudacuta. Bornean population possibly separable as subspecies gloriosa, but existing museum specimens too old and faded for assessment, and insufficient recent material available for examination.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
caudacuta Swainson, 1838 - Southern Myanmar (Tenasserim), south-western Thailand and Malay Peninsula, including islands of Rah and Phuket; formerly also Singapore, and probably Pinang I.
viridis Raffles, 1822 - Sumatra, Nias I, Batu Is, Lingga Archipelago, northern Natuna Is and Borneo.
siberu Chasen & Kloss, 1926 - Mentawai Is (Siberut, North Pagai, South Pagai).
Similar Species
Hose's Broadbill (Calyptomena hosii) which is larger with blue underparts and spots rather than bars on the wings, Whitehead's Broadbill (Calyptomena whiteheadi) which is much larger with a black patch on the upper breast.
References
See References.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet