Grey-chinned Minivet
A species of Minivets Scientific name : Pericrocotus solaris Genus : Minivets
Grey-chinned Minivet, A species of Minivets
Botanical name: Pericrocotus solaris
Genus: Minivets
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Dibyendu Ash , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The grey-chinned minivet is 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) long and weighs 11–17 g (0.39–0.60 oz). It is sexually dimorphic. The adult male has a dark grey head and mantle, a pale grey chin, an orange-yellow throat and blackish wings. The underparts, lower back and tips of the greater coverts are orange. In the female, these parts are bright yellow instead. The eyes, beak and legs are black. The immature bird is similar to the female but has yellow-olive bars on its back.
Size
19 cm
Colors
Black
Yellow
Red
Gray
White
Orange
Feeding Habits
Grey-chinned Minivet primarily forages aerially and within the tree canopy for invertebrates, displaying adaptability by also descending to lower vegetation. This indicates a varied insectivorous diet with specialized hunting techniques.
Habitat
The grey-chinned Minivet typically resides in the canopies of broadleaf evergreen, moist deciduous, and sometimes coniferous forests in montane regions. These birds are found at elevations ranging from 150 to 3,000 meters, adapting to elfin forest and short elfin growth on mountain summits. They show tolerance to habitat degradation and selective logging, yet are absent from monoculture rubber plantations. The grey-chinned Minivet's habitat spans across the eastern Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and extends into the Indonesian archipelago where they also occupy secondary forests and forest edges.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Behavior
When not breeding, this minivet forms small parties with fewer than 15 individuals and also large flocks of dozens of birds; it sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks. It forages for invertebrates in the canopy, sometimes descending to tree ferns or sallying in the air. It gives a twittering call while feeding, and contact calls include a high-pitched sri-sisi and a chirit-chirit. Breeding has been recorded from February to April and has been inferred to occur in January. The male has been observed walking towards the female while holding a flower in its beak; the male swung its head, touched the female's beak and dropped the flower, and then they mated. The nest, constructed by both sexes, is built on a branch or fork of a tree. It is a steep cup made of bryophytes and covered with felt externally. Lichens are added to camouflage the nest, and the female shapes the nest by pushing against the rim with its breast. The eggs have not been described. The male and female raise the brood together, and subadults have been seen helping them. Moulting occurs from June to October.
Distribution Area
This species ranges from the eastern foothills of the Himalayas through northeastern India, southern China, mainland Southeast Asia to Sumatra and Borneo. Its habitat is montane forest about 1,000–2,000 m (3,300–6,600 ft) in elevation. In Taiwan, it has been recorded down to 150 m (490 ft). It lives in the canopy of broadleaf forest and also coniferous forest, elfin forest, secondary forest, forest edges and gardens with trees. It is thought that all 12 of the minivet species adaptively radiated in mainland Asia and later dispersed to the Indonesian archipelago.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Dibyendu Ash , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Cuckoo-shrikes Genus
Minivets Species
Grey-chinned Minivet