Found in Southeast Asia from Myanmar through to eastern Java, the Philippines and Borneo, it is a large cuckoo measuring up to 49 cm (19 in) with grey and dark green upperparts and chestnut underparts, and a large curved pale upper mandible.

Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin words curvus "curved", and rostrum "beak".

[3] The genus name is derived from the ancient Greek phoiniko- "crimson", and phaes "eyes" or "face",[4] referring to the red-faced malkoha.

[6] Measuring 42–49 cm (17–19 in) in length, the chestnut-breasted malkoha has a large, curved, pale yellow upper mandible and darker red or black lower mandible, and a bare red patch of rough skin around the eye.

[2] Breeding season varies by location, from August to December in Borneo, to January to September in Southeast Asia.