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Bird name:

Nutmeg Mannikin

Lonchura punctulata

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Estrilid Finches (Estrildidae)

Code 4

NUMA

Code 6

LONPUN

ITIS

179619

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Unknown-

The Nutmeg Mannikin has a vast, and generally estimated, range reaching up to between 1 million and ten million square kilometers. This bird can be found in its native habitats in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Province of China, Thailand, and Vietnam and has been introduced in a number of other locations, including Australia, the US and Japan among others. The global population of this bird is estimated, and the bird is described as “common” in its native habitats. Currently, it is not believed that the population trends for this bird will soon approach the minimum levels that could suggest a potential decline in population. Due to this, population trends for the Nutmeg Mannikin have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.

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SUMMARY

Overview

Nutmeg Mannikin: Small finch with chestnut-brown upperparts and dark-scaled white underparts. Head is richer brown and bill is heavy and dark. Forages on the ground or hangs from stems to eat seeds. Native to Southeast Asia where they have been popular as cage birds. AKA Spice Finch.


Range and Habitat

Nutmeg Mannikin: Resident from India to Taiwan, south to Sri Lanka, and through southeast Asia to East Indies and Philippines. Introduced and established in Hawaii (widespread on all main islands); also introduced to Australia. Preferred habitats include reed beds, rank grass, scrub areas, grasslands, orchards, and cultivated lands, often near human habitation.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Voice Text

"ki-ki-te-te", "chee, ba-hee"

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Nutmeg Mannikin is also known as Ricebird, Scaly-breasted Munia, and Spotted Munia.
  • They flick their tail and wings constantly.
  • Many colonies started from escaped caged birds.
  • There usual diet is half ripe seeds but they have become quite good scavengers in urban areas.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

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FAMILY DESCRIPTION

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX