Fiery Minivet
Pericrocotus igneus
Brightly-colored and social, this long-tailed passerine can often be found perched up overlooking the canopy or flying overhead. Very similar to Scarlet, Long-tailed, and Short-billed minivets. Similar-looking Scarlet Minivet has two disjunct bright patches on the wings, whereas these patches are connected in Fiery. Other minivets are larger overall and brighter red (versus more orange) in adult male plumage. Female Fiery’s reddish-orange rump is unique and if seen separates her from other female black-and-red minivets. Inhabits lowland and foothill forests and forest edge. Gives a high, thin, rising “swee.”
Identification
The fiery minivet is 15–16.5 cm (5.9–6.5 in) long. It is sexually dimorphic. The male has a glossy black head and mantle and an orange-red back. The wings are mostly glossy black, with orange-red edges to the secondary coverts and an orange-red patch on the flight feathers. The gradated tail is black and orange-red. The chin and throat are glossy black, and the rest of the underparts is orange-red. The eyes are dark brown, and the beak and feet are black. The female has a grey head, with orange lores and eye-rims. The back is lead grey, and the rump is orange-red. The wings are darker grey, and the wing-patch is paler than the male's. The underparts are yellow. The juvenile bird has sooty brown upperparts and sooty black flight feathers. The underparts are off-white from the chin to upper belly, the rest being pale yellow. After a post-juvenile moult, it becomes similar to the adult female.
Taxonomy
This species was described from Malacca by Edward Blyth in 1846. The species name is from the Latin igneus "fiery". Harry C. Oberholser described the larger subspecies Pericrocotus igneus trophis from Simeulue in 1912. A 2010 molecular phylogenetic study confirmed the previously hypothesised relationship that the fiery minivet and small minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus) are sister species.
- Scientific name
- Pericrocotus igneus
- Authority
- Blyth, 1846
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Campephagidae
- Genus
- Pericrocotus
Range and habitat
This species is found in Tenasserim, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and its satellite islands, Borneo and Palawan. It is locally extinct in Singapore. It lives in the canopy of lowland broadleaf forest, forest edges, peat swamp forest, well-grown secondary forest, and coastal and mangrove forest. It is found up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in elevation, mainly below 600 m (2,000 ft). It sometimes visits wooded gardens near forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This minivet occurs in groups and also joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Its contact call is a swee-eet or twee-eet. It catches insects in the air and from leaves and branches. Breeding has been observed from May to July. The shallow cup nest is built on a fork of a tree from twigs and fibres and camouflaged with lichen and pieces of bark. The eggs are pale yellowish, with brown and grey marks. Moulting has been recorded from June to September.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Brown-chested Barbet
Capito brunneipectus
Medium-sized, chunky species with a strong thick bill. Has yellow-olive, cinnamon, and black plumage, duller in females, which also have a black-spotted throat. Found in the canopy of humid forest, often accompanying mixed-species flocks. The call is an incredibly fast series of deep “hoo” notes.
Bornean Forktail
Enicurus borneensis
A typical forktail, with piebald plumage and long tail. Black head, upper back, chest and wings; white belly, rump, forecrown and wingbar; black and white tail and pale-pink legs. Inhabits shaded whitewater streams through montane rainforests, along which it perches on boulders and low-hanging branches. May overlap at mid-elevations with the very similar White-crowned Forktail which occurs in the lowlands, but Bornean has a longer tail and less extensive white on the head. Often detected by its vocalizations, a harsh buzzing whistle and high metallic whistles.
Gray-headed Swamphen
Porphyrio poliocephalus
A very large bluish-purple waterbird with a red bill and forehead shield, as well as red legs and feet with long toes. The tail is flicked up often, revealing fluffy white “underpants.” Juveniles are duller than adults and lack the red bill and shield. An inhabitant of marshy, vegetated freshwater bodies such as swamps, rivers, and lakes; usually in small groups. Feeds, often clumsily, at muddy water edges, in reeds, and on floating vegetation. Makes short nasal grunts and croaking sounds. Formerly part of the species known as Purple Swamphen.
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