Indian Silverbill Euodice malabarica Scientific name definitions

Sometimes also placed in the genus Lonchura with the mannikins, the Indian Silverbill’s native range encompasses parts of Arabia and Iran, thence through South Asia, in India and Sri Lanka. Naturalised populations are known from several parts of the world including Europe (in France), and the Hawaiian Islands. In our region it is known exclusively from Puerto Rico, where it was apparently introduced in the 1960s or the early 1970s. It is locally common there, at localities in the north and southwest of the island, and there are also recent records from St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands.

11 cm; 10–14 g. Male is dull brown above , crown scaly, lower back to rump and uppertail-coverts white, outer webs of longest uppertail-coverts contrastingly black, outer and central remiges and outer greater coverts blackish, rest of wing drab brown with very faint or no barring, long, pointed tail blackish brown variably tinged chestnut or dull reddish brown; loral area and narrow supercilium whitish, cheek and throat white, breast to belly and undertail-coverts whitish, flanks light buff with rufous barring; iris dark brown, eyering dark grey; maxilla dark grey to blackish , mandible pale blue-grey; legs grey. Female is similar to male, but lores, face and breast dingier, more buff, supercilium less prominent, flanks less distinctly barred, pointed tail feathers shorter. Juvenile is similar to adult, but rump and undertail-coverts mottled brown, central rectrices shorter and slightly rounded, flanks unbarred, bill grey.

E Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, E Oman, and S Iran E along coast to Indian Subcontinent S of Himalayas, from Pakistan and Nepal E to Bangladesh (Sundarbans) and S to Sri Lanka (dry zone); also in Israel, Jordan, extreme NE Egypt (Sinai), NW Arabia and Kuwait (origin uncertain, probably introduced). Introduced in Hawaiian Is, Puerto Rico, Virgin Is (St Croix) and France (1 Dubois, P.J. (2012). [Second invasive bird species survey in France in 2011]. Ornithos. 19(4): 225–251. In French with English summary. Close ).

Open country , semi-desert and scrub, open dry woodland, cultivated areas, and towns and villages. Occurs in plains and hills, up to 600 m; in sub-Himalayan region, to 1200 m in W (Chitral) in summer.

Resident, with local movements. Shifts linked to rainfall.

Grass seeds , also seeds of sedges (Cyperaceae), rice and cultivated millet when available; also small insects, and nectar of Erythrina flowers. Feeds usually on the ground , taking fallen seeds, and regularly seeds from heads of growing grasses. Highly social, usually in large or small flocks; occurs in large flocks after monsoon and in early winter. Reported as associating with Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark (Eremopterix griseus) in Sri Lanka.

Call of male a single loud “tseep”; female has double-noted “tsiptsip”, sometimes repeated in staccato. Song a series of notes, rising and then falling, rapidly repeated in a trill; similar to song of E. cantans.

Breeds throughout year, varying locally, generally beginning with onset of rains; mainly in winter months in Indian Subcontinent; mid-Mar–Jun (mainly Apr–May) in Israel. Possibly has helpers at nest. Courting male stretches upright and sings and twists towards female, then grasps a stem of grass by one end, flies to her and drops stem, sleeks feathers, body erect with tail pointed down, and jerks head up and down several times; he leans forward, body oblique to horizontal, erects belly feathers, points tail towards her, and jerks head up and down, and he bobs up and down, stretching and bending legs, as he sings. Male brings nest material and female builds nest, an untidy globular mass with entrance hole at one side, made with twigs, straw and grass, lined with feathers, placed 2–3 m above ground in dead thorn bush, small tree, date palm or thatched roof; often takes over old nest of weaver (Ploceidae) or sparrow (Passer). Clutch 3–8 eggs; on occasion, many eggs laid in a single nest, their different shapes suggesting several laying females, and two or three pairs seen to enter a single nest; incubation period 12–14 days; nestling naked, skin blue-black, thick and swollen gape white, palate yellowish-white, a broad black band extends from it around side to lower jaw, tongue has black spot; nestling period 21–23 days.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally common. Less common in Sri Lanka, where the species has apparently declined in recent decades; cause of decline not known. Local in extreme W of range (at top of Red Sea ), where origin of small populations uncertain; thought possibly to have originated from escaped cagebirds. Widely kept in captivity. In Puerto Rico, introduced population breeding in numbers sufficient to supply the bird trade in USA.