Friday, August 1, 2008

Black Headed Munia

This is the first time that I have clicked a photograph of a bird using flash. The bird was resting under a roof and the sky was overcast. The light was insufficient and hence I had to opt for the flash. Thankfully, the brave bird was not startled by the flash of light and continued perching.
These birds generally prefer wet lands, ill drained areas and become very active especially during paddy cultivation. It's very common in southern India and feeds on seeds and grain.

P.S. : Some sources ( including Wikipedia ) refer to this bird as the 'Tricoloured munia'. But Im following BNHS " Book of Indian birds " by Salim Ali. Scientifically, both of them call it as 'Lonchura malacca'
Any views on this; please comment and let me know if I am on the right track.

2 comments:

  1. Tricoloured munia vs. black-headed munia - there's two taxa involved. Lonchura malacca is the tricoloured munia that you've photographed. Lonchura atricapilla is the black-headed munia that has a brown chest rather than a white one (so is only two-coloured). Many sources treat the two as different subspecies of Lonchura malacca, then often referred to as a whole as the black-headed munia.

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