Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Ploceidae
Genus
Malimbus
Surprise Me
Previous Sociable Weaver
Next Black-throated Malimbe
- Red-crowned Malimbe
© Nik Borrow
- Red-crowned Malimbe
- Red-crowned Malimbe
- Red-crowned Malimbe

Red-crowned Malimbe Malimbus coronatus Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2010

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

17 cm; 32 g. Male has scarlet-red oval patch on crown, rest of plumage glossy black; iris dark red; bill and legs black. Female has completely black plumage; bare parts as for male. Juvenile has oval patch of light chestnut-brown extending from base of bill to hindcrown, rest of plumage matt black, lacking gloss, iris brown, bill and legs brown.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

S Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, N Gabon, SE Central African Republic and NW Congo E to N & E DRCongo.

Habitat

Lowland primary forest, sometimes in swamp-forest and mature secondary forest.

Movement

Sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Insectivorous; stomachs of 19 specimens contained only insect material, including eggs and larvae, beetles (Coleoptera), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), cockroaches (Blattodea) and grasshoppers (Orthoptera). Forages chiefly in canopy (above 20 m), searching in masses of dead leaves and on lianas; characterized as a leaf-gleaning insectivore. In groups of 3–7 individuals, and often in mixed-species flocks.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song described as very high-pitched series of trills, varying in speed and pitch. Chattering call by male at nest; continuous contact calls from group-members during nest-building; aggressive "pi-tsit-tsit".

Breeding

Breeds mainly Nov–Feb (also Mar–Apr) in Gabon, Dec and Mar in PRCongo, and Jan–Mar and Sept in DRCongo. Monogamous. Group of 3–6 individuals may participate in nest-building, then single pair left to breed. Male sings at nest, and wing-quivering display described. Of 18 nests in Gabon, two built by single pair, two by two males and one female, three by one male with two females, four by two males and two females, six by three males and two females, and one by two males and three females; only adults involved in building, arrive as a group, but only one individual works on nest at a time, one nest took 10 days to complete; nest retort-shaped, with short spout c. 9 cm long, constructed from dry spiral tendrils of vines with small twigs and leaf stems, rough in appearance and with projecting ends of material directed outwards and downwards, apparently unlined, suspended 7–25 m (usually 8–9 m) above ground from dangling thorny vines, usually over open space or clearing; male defoliated area around nest at one site; nests used for roosting outside breeding season. Clutch apparently 2 eggs, eggs undescribed; incubation by both sexes, nest seldom unattended, both also brood and feed chicks, no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods. In Gabon, many nests destroyed by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally not uncommon. Present in a number of national parks in several countries.
Distribution of the Red-crowned Malimbe - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Red-crowned Malimbe

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. (2020). Red-crowned Malimbe (Malimbus coronatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.recmal2.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos