From Opus

Alternative name: Black-headed Munia

Photo by Dave B Smith
Rahamut Tr., Trinidad, August 2010

Lonchura malacca

[edit] Identification

11cm
Chestnut plumage, black head, throat, center of belly, and undertail coverts; white across upper breast and down the flanks or the white area scalloped with either black or cinnamon-chestnut feather fringes; large conical bluish grey bill.

Sexes are similar.
Juvenile: Uniformly buffy brown plumage, no black head, can probably not be safely separated from similar age Chestnut Munia.

Variation in plumage: several morphs are described, including one that looks similar to an imagined hybrid between Black-headed Munia and Chestnut Munia.

[edit] Distribution

Immature
Photo by Dave B Smith
Rahamut Tr., Trinidad, August 2010

Native range is India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

It is now found widely in tropical areas of the world, including the Caribbean and South America.

[edit] Taxonomy

This species was until 1996 considered conspecific with Chestnut Munia. Agreement has not been reached on which of the two offspring species should inherit the name of Black-headed Munia, and which needed a different name.

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Two subspecies are recognized:

• L. m. rubronigra:

• Northern India (Haryana to northern Bihar) and lowlands of Nepal

• L. m. malacca:

• Lowlands of southern India (Tapi River to Raipur) and Sri Lanka

[edit] Habitat

Lowland rural areas with tall grass, cultivated lands, grasslands, scrub, secondary growth.

[edit] Behavior

[edit] Diet

The diet includes seeds.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a ball made out of dried grass, placed close to the ground in long grass or low bushes.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: a loud heh; shrill preep.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

[edit] External Links