Black-headed Munia
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| Black-headed Munia | ||||||||||||||
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| Lonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Black-headed Munia, or Chestnut Munia (Lonchura malacca) is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Black-headed Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on grain and other seeds. It frequents open grassland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tbush or tall grass into which 4-7 white eggs are laid.
The Black-headed Munia is 11-12cm in length. The adult has a stubby pale grey bill, black head, upper breast and lower belly. The upperparts are uniformly brown. The upper belly and lower breast are white in peninsular India and Sri Lanka, chestnut in other races.
The sexes are similar, but immature birds have uniform pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head and have white to pale buff underparts.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6