Gray-chinned Minivet Pericrocotus solaris Scientific name definitions

A more or less staple constituent of montane forests throughout South-East Asia, the Gray-chinned Minivet is a slim-bodied and long-tailed songbird that is frequently encountered in large, vocal flocks; characteristics typical of the genus Pericrocotus as a whole. Hard to miss, males have a bright orange-red belly, a comma-shaped slash on the wing, and a gray head and upperparts. Females are similarly patterned, but have paler upperparts and a white throat, and the male’s orange-red feathering is replaced by yellow. Birds on Borneo, Sumatra, and the southern Malay Peninsula average darker headed than populations elsewhere and have different vocalizations; and they have been treated as a separate species by some authorities. Throughout its range, Gray-chinned Minivet is rather similar to a number of other Pericrocotus species, and identification should rely on wing pattern and throat coloration.