Fiery minivet

The fiery minivet (Pericrocotus igneus) is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. Its range includes Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitats are broadleaf, secondary and coastal forests. It is threatened by forest clearance and has been assessed as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Fiery minivet
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Campephagidae
Genus: Pericrocotus
Species:
P. igneus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus igneus
Blyth, 1846

Taxonomy

This species was described from Malacca by Edward Blyth in 1846.[2] The species name is from the Latin igneus "fiery".[3] Harry C. Oberholser described the larger subspecies Pericrocotus igneus trophis from Simeulue in 1912.[4][5] A 2010 molecular phylogenetic study confirmed the previously hypothesised relationship that the fiery minivet and small minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus) are sister species.[6]

Description

The fiery minivet is 15–16.5 cm (5.9–6.5 in) long. It is sexually dimorphic.[6] 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.[7]

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in Tenasserim, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and its satellite islands, Borneo and Palawan.[7] It is locally extinct in Singapore.[8] It lives in the canopy of lowland broadleaf forest, forest edges, peat swamp forest, well-grown secondary forest, and coastal and mangrove forest.[1][7] It is found up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in elevation, mainly below 600 m (2,000 ft).[1] It sometimes visits wooded gardens near forests.[7]

Behaviour

This minivet occurs in groups and also joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Its contact call is a swee-eet or twee-eet.[7] It catches insects in the air and from leaves and branches.[8] 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.[7]

Status

Deforestation due to logging and land conversion has likely caused the population to decline at a moderate speed. Forest fires are also a threat, such as in 1997 and 1998.[1] The IUCN has assessed it as a near-threatened species.[1]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Pericrocotus igneus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22706744A94087010. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706744A94087010.en. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. Blyth, Edward (1846). "Notices and Descriptions of various New or Little Known Species of Birds". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 15: 309–310.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Bloomsbury. p. 202. ISBN 9781408133262.
  4. Oberholser, Harry C. (1912). "Descriptions of one hundred and four new species and sub-species from the Barussan Islands and Sumatra". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 60 (7): 14.
  5. Gill, F.; Donsker, D. (eds.). "Bristlehead, butcherbirds, woodswallows, ioras, cuckooshrikes". IOC World Bird List Version 8.1. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  6. Jønsson, Knud A.; Irestedt, Martin; Ericson, Per G. P.; Fjeldså, Jon (2010). "A molecular phylogeny of minivets (Passeriformes: Campephagidae: Pericrocotus): implications for biogeography and convergent plumage evolution" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 39 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2009.00401.x.
  7. Wells, David R. (2010). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Vol. 2. Bloomsbury. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9781408133132.
  8. Jeyarajasingam, Allen (2012). A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press. p. 272. ISBN 9780199639434.
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