Large Niltava

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

Niltava grandis

Identification

20 cm

• 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

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)

Female
Photo by galee
Fraser Hill, Malaysia, April 2009

• 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

Diet includes insects and small fruits.

Breeding

The nest is cup-shaped formed from mosses and placed among rocks, beside a tree-trunk, or in a shallow cavity in a rotten stump.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
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

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Large Niltava. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Large_Niltava

External Links

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