Lonchura atricapilla
Size: 11 – 12cm
Weight: 10 – 15g
Found: A resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Hawaii. It frequents open grassland and cultivation.
Description: 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.
Diet: Feeds mainly on grain and other seeds.
Comment: The black-headed munia was the national bird of the Philippines until 1995, when that honorific was transferred to the Philippine eagle.
More in this category
