Large Niltava - BirdForum Opus

Male, Nominate subspecies
Photo by paux
West Yunnan, China, February 2016

Niltava grandis

Identification

20–22 cm (7¾-8½ in)

• Overall dark slaty blue, can appear black from a distance
• Blue shiny crown and shoulder stripe distinctive, can be striking
• Black throat and breast

Female

• Olive-brown
• Lighter belly
  

Juvenile - light-brown with whitish spots

Female
Photo by galee
Fraser Hill, Malaysia, April 2009

Distribution

Nepal, Bhutan, western India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and southwest China.

Taxonomy

Large Niltava has four subspecies:

• N. g. grandis:

• Himalayas (Nepal to northern Myanmar, southern China and northern Indochina)

• N. g. griseiventris:

• Southern China (south-eastern Yunnan)

• N. g. decipiens:

• Peninsula Thailand to Malaysia and Sumatra

• N. g. decorata:

• Southern Laos (Langbian Plateau)

Habitat

Humid, dense, broad-leafed forest, often near a stream.

Behaviour

Diet

Male below, juvenile above
Photo by the late Laurence Poh
Cameron Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia

Their diet consists of small to medium insects, crickets and even small snakes. They also eat small berries.

Breeding

The nest is cup-shaped (either open or domed) constructed from mosses, lichen and rootlets and placed among rocks, beside a tree-trunk, or in a shallow cavity in a rotten stump at about 6 meters from the ground.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Answers.com
3. Kazmierczak, K and B van Perlo. 2000. A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0300079210

1. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Large Niltava. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Large_Niltava

External Links

Search for photos of Large Niltava in the gallery