Black Throated Munia

I was watching a flock of Black- headed Munia's playing in water, when somewhere in the group I noticed a Munia, that had a different colour. When I trained my camera on the the bird, I was surprised to see a Black- throated Munia ( Lonchura kelaarti ) quietly perched awaiting its turn for a bath. It was a first timer for me and I was quite delighted to see this lovely bird. The bird has quite a restricted range and is found within peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The Indian species is specifically called Lonchura kelaarti jerdoni and an interesting fact about this name is that, the binomial name was given in honour of the Zoologist Edward Frederick Kelaart, by the ornithologist Thomas Jerdon.

White Rumped Munia

We are halfway into the monsoon season. The country side is lush green and the wildlife looks hale and hearty. I was taking a stroll in our backyard, when I came across six Munias, foraging among some wildly grown Balsam plants, feeding on grass seeds. A small section of our backyard is left unweeded and provides a good hunting ground for these Munia's
The bird is a cousin of the waxbill's and certain finches.
It's my practice to carry my Camera with 400mm lens, while walking in our backyard. I never know what interesting life form will pop-up right before my eyes. In this case, the light condition were less than ambient. I went down on my haunches, and used my knees as camera support. It was quite difficult to stay still in such a awkward position for long, but I managed to stay down long enough to get a few lovely snaps.

Spotted Munia

These Spotted Munias (Lonchura punctulata) were foraging on the ground, when I slowly tried to approach them. Though I thought I was quiet, they spotted me and with loud chirps flew onto a nearby bamboo grove, this is a typical behaviour for this bird. Its only when they flew, I realised that there were not 3 or 4 but about 30 to 35 birds together. This tiny bird measuring about 10 cm is also called scaly breasted Munia and loves light vegetation and a diet of flying termites. When termites are not to be found then they live on grass seeds and hence mostly found foraging close to the ground.
I could not get any close up photograph of the bird, but will be hopefully lucky next time.
Camera: Sony A350, 200mm lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 . RAW format image.

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.

Black Headed Munia

It was noontime and the sun was creating strong shadows at the birds undercarriage, To bring out the details from the bird, I did spot metering of the birds dark plumage and hence this overexposed background. Though the bird has turned out clean, the overexposed background does not do justice to the birds beauty.
This bird is one of the many that is frequently caught and used in pet trade.