Family Waxbills (Estrildidae)
Least Concern
Tricoloured Munia (Lonchura malacca)
Taxonomy
French: Capucin à dos marron German: Schwarzbauchnonne Spanish: Capuchino tricolor
Other common names:
Black-headed Munia
Taxonomy:
Loxia malacca
Linnaeus
, 1766,China, Java and Malacca; error = Belgaum, Karnataka, India
.Distribution:
Peninsular India S from Gujarat, C Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, and Sri Lanka; recent regular records in SE Rajasthan#R. Introduced to Hawaiian Is, West Indies (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Martinique), Middle America (Mexico S to Panama) and N South America (Colombia, Venezuela).
Descriptive notes
11–12 cm; 9·8-14·4 g. Head to nape, side of neck and upper breast are glossy black, mantle to back and upperwing chestnut-brown, rump and uppertail-coverts brighter... read more
Voice
Soft contact call a quiet "tcht tcht"; loud contact call a nasal downturned "nyek,... read more
Habitat
Grassland, wet and marshy areas, scrub, parkland; plains to 2100 m. In Venezuela, introduced... read more
Food and feeding
Grass seeds. Growing seeds preferred, grasps stems and climbs to fruiting head; also picks up fallen seeds on ground. Forages in pairs and... read more
Breeding
Breeds in almost any month, mainly in monsoon season, in India; in Hispaniola (introduced) mainly Jun–Sept. Nests in small colonies,... read more
Movements
Resident, with local movements.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common in native range. Apparently fairly common in various places elsewhere in the world, where introduced. Could suffer future habitat loss... read more
Sometimes considered conspecific with L. atricapilla and also, less often, with L. ferruginosa, the three taxa being vocally very similar. Formerly, hybrid zone between present species and L. atricapilla apparently existed in E peninsular India (NW Odisha S to NE Tamil Nadu); it is suggested that some intermediate-looking individuals may be plumage morphs of present species, as they occur also in Sri Lanka, well outside range of L. atricapilla. In a mixed captive group, these two species associated and paired assortatively; also, no interbreeding reported in Hong Kong, where escaped individuals of both breed in Mai Po marshes. Monotypic.