Alternative names: White-bellied Mannikin; White-breasted Munia; White-breasted Mannikin
- Lonchura leucogastra
Identification
11 cm.
- Dark brown head to back and rump
- Pale shaft streaks on back and rump
- Brownish-black uppertail-coverts
- Dark brown tail quills with straw-yellow fringes
- Black face to breast
- White belly with incomplete streaks and bars on lower breast and flanks
- Grey eyering
- Grey bill, blue-grey base of lower mandible
- Subspecies differ mainly in prominence and extent on streaks on upperparts
Sexes similar, juveniles are lighter brown and have a blackish-horn bill
Distribution
From southeast Burma and peninsular Thailand to Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines.
Common in parts of its range, local and rare in Borneo, uncommon in Sumatra, one record from west Java. Habitat destruction has led to declines or even local extinctions.
Taxonomy
Six subspecies recognized:
- L. l. leucogastra in southeast Burma, peninsular Thailand and Malay Peninsula to Sumatra
- L. l. everetti on Luzon, Mindoro, Camiguin Norte, Catanduanes and Polillo (Philippines)
- L. l. manueli throughout Philippine Islands
- L. l. palawana on Palawan, islands in Sulu Archipelago and Borneo
- L. l. smythiesi in north Borneo (Kucing region of southwest Sarawak)
- L. l. castanonota in south Borneo
Sometimes considered conspecific with Javan Munia.
Habitat
Moist forests in lowlands, forest edge, scrub of disturbed forest, wet grassland and rice fields and grassy fields around rural settlements.
Occurs in lowlands and hills, in the Malay Peninsula up to 700 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on grass seeds, including rice seeds.
Forages in small groups or in pairs.
Breeding
Breeding season differs through range. Breeds solitary or in small colonies. The nest is a loose oval structure with a side entrance made of grass stems, flowering heads, palm leaflets, bamboo leaves and other grass and fibres. It's placed 1.5 to 3 m above the ground in the crown of a sapling, among dead foliage hanging off a branch. Lays 4 to 6 eggs.
Movements
This is a resident species. Some altitudinal movements recorded in Borneo. Resident; some seasonal altitudinal movements in Borneo.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-bellied Munia. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-bellied_Munia
