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Chestnut Munia

Chestnut Munia

Lonchura atricapilla

Range & Recent Observations

Chestnut Muniais a year-round resident and doesn't follow a migration flyway. See the Range tab for where it lives.

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBirdWikipedia

About the Chestnut Munia

The chestnut munia or black-headed munia (Lonchura atricapilla) is a small passerine. It was formerly considered conspecific with the closely related tricoloured munia, but is now widely accepted as a separate species. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Hawaii. It also has been introduced to all the Greater Antilles and Martinique in the Caribbean. Before 1995, it was the national bird of the Philippines, where it is known in Tagalog as mayang pula ("red maya") because of the brick red patch on the lower back which is visible only when it flies.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Lonchura atricapilla
Family
Waxbills and Allies
Order
Passeriformes

Similar species

Other members of the waxbills and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • African Firefinch Lagonosticta rubricata
  • African Silverbill Euodice cantans
  • Black-and-white Mannikin Spermestes bicolor
  • Black-rumped Waxbill Estrilda troglodytes
  • Blue-capped Cordonbleu Uraeginthus cyanocephalus
  • Bronze Mannikin Spermestes cucullata
  • Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild
  • Crimson-rumped Waxbill Estrilda rhodopyga
  • Cut-throat Amadina fasciata
  • Diamond Firetail Stagonopleura guttata
  • Double-barred Finch Stizoptera bichenovii
  • Gouldian Finch Chloebia gouldiae

Know when the Chestnut Munia turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →

Gear for spotting Chestnut Munia

Optics

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