Before 1995, it was the national bird of the Philippines,[2]
where it is known as mayang pula ("red maya") because of its brick red patch on the lower back which is visible only when it flies. (This distinguishes it from other birds locally called maya, notably the predominantly brownish "mayang simbahan" (tree sparrow)[3] which is more common in urban areas.)
Subspecies
The chestnut munia has several subspecies that are recognized, including:
Lonchura atricapilla atricapilla
Lonchura atricapilla rubroniger
Lonchura atricapilla sinensis
Lonchura atricapilla formosana
Lonchura atricapilla deignani
Lonchura atricapilla brunneiceps
Lonchura atricapilla jagori
Lonchura atricapilla selimbauensis
Lonchura atricapilla obscura
Lonchura atricapilla batakana
Description
Small, sexes alike, races differ slightly in intensity of color. in jagoriAd whole head, breast center of belly, and undertail coverts black; back, wing, and sides of belly chestnut, brighter on underparts, duller on wings; uppertail coverts dark reddish brown, underpart buff; uppertail coverts and tail as ad. Bill silvery gray; eye chestnut; legs gray.
Habitat
The chestnut munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on grain and other seeds. It frequents open grassland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a bush or tall grass into which 4-7 white eggs are laid.
Characteristics
The chestnut munia is 11–12cm in length. The adult has a stubby pale grey-blue bill, black head, and brown body, with a brick red patch on the lower back, visible only when it flies. Some races also have a black belly.
The sexes are similar, but immature birds have uniform pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head and have white to pale buff underparts.
National bird of the Philippines until 1995
The black-headed munia was the national bird of the Philippines[2] until 1995, when that honorific was transferred to the Philippine eagle. There, due to urbanization and the resulting lack of awareness of local species, it is nowadays often confused for the Eurasian tree sparrow because that species, one of several also categorized as "maya" in the Philippines, is much more common in the urban areas.[2][3]
References
A Guide to the birds of the Philippines(2000) Robert S. Kennedy pedro C. Gonzales, Edward C, Dickinson Hector C. Miranda, jr. & Timothy H. Fisher
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Chestnut_munia, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.