>Pericrocotus flammeus (Orange Minivet)

Orange Minivet

Orange Minivet
Female in Sri Lanka
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. flammeus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus flammeus JR Forster, 1781

The Orange Minivet (Pericrocotus flammeus) is a species of bird in the cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is found in southeast India and Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Scarlet Minivet.

>Pericrocotus speciosus (Scarlet Minivet)

Scarlet Minivet

Scarlet Minivet
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. speciosus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus speciosus Latham, 1790

The Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are common resident breeding birds in forests and other well-wooded habitats including gardens, especially in hilly country. While the male of most subspecies are scarlet to orange with black upper parts, the females are usually yellow with greyish olive upper parts. Several former subspecies have been elevated to species status in recent works. These include the Orange Minivet. All subspecies have the same habits of gleaning for insects and are often seen in mixed-species foraging flocks, usually foraging in small groups, high up in the forest canopy.

Description

The Scarlet Minivet is 20–22 cm (7.9–8.7 in) long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male has black upperparts and head, and scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump and wing patches. The shape and colour of the wing patches and the shade or orange in the male varies across populations. In the subspecies nigroluteus and marchesae from south Philippines the scarlet/orange is entirely replaced by yellow. The female is grey above, with yellow underparts (including the face), tail edges, rump and wing patches.

Taxonomy and systematics

There is considerable geographic variation in this species and several disjunct populations exist. Some former races are sometimes considered full species requiring the reorganization of other former subspecies. As many as nineteen subspecies have been described:

• speciosus (Latham, 1790) along the Himalayas
  • fraterculus Swinhoe, 1870 is found in the northeast of India and extends into Myanmar, Yunnan and Hainan
  • semiruber Whistler & Kinnear, 1933 is found in southern Myanmar and Thailand
  • andamanensis Beavan, 1867 - Andaman Islands
• fohkiensis Buturlin, 1910 is found in southeastern China
• flammifer Hume, 1875 is found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia
• xanthogaster (Raffles, 1822) is found in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra

Several isolated island forms that have been described include:

• minythomelas Oberholser, 1912 is an insular form described from Simeulue Island off Sumatra.
• modiglianii Salvadori, 1892 from Enggano Island
• insulanus Deignan, 1946 from Borneo.
• siebersi Rensch, 1928 from Java and Bali.
• exul Wallace, 1864 from Lombok
• novus McGregor, 1904 from Luzon and Negros
• leytensis Steere, 1890 from Samar, Leyte and Bohol
• gonzalesi Ripley & Rabor, 1961 from N & E Mindanao
• nigroluteus Parkes, 1981 from south central Mindanao
• johnstoniae Ogilvie-Grant, 1905 from Mt. Apo in southeastern Mindanao
• marchesae Guillemard, 1885 from the Sulu Archipelago

Ecology and behaviour

This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It flushes insects out of foliage by beating its wings hard. Scarlet Minivet will form small flocks. Its song is a pleasant whistling. This bird nests high up in the treetops. The nest is a cup-like structure woven with small twigs and spiders' webs to increase the strength of the nest. Two or three spotted pale green eggs are laid. Incubation is mainly by the female, but both birds help to raise the offspring.

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  Male at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in  Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal,India.
 
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  Female at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri  district of West Bengal,India.
 
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  Female at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in  Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal,India.
 
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  Male at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in  Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal,India.
 
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  Female at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in  Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal,India.

>Pericrocotus miniatus (Sunda Minivet)

Sunda Minivet

Sunda Minivet
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. miniatus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus miniatus (Temminck, 1822)

The Sunda Minivet (Pericrocotus miniatus) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.

>Pericrocotus brevirostris (Short-billed Minivet)

Short-billed Minivet

Short-billed Minivet
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. brevirostris
Binomial name
Pericrocotus brevirostris (Vigors, 1831)

The Short-billed Minivet (Pericrocotus brevirostris) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Bangladesh,
Bhutan,Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

>Pericrocotus ethologus (Long-tailed Minivet)

Long-tailed Minivet

Long-tailed Minivet
Male at 10000 ft. in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India.
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. ethologus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus ethologus Bangs & Phillips, 1914

Male at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India

The Long-tailed Minivet (Pericrocotus ethologus) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in southern and south-eastern Asia where it occurs in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

>Pericrocotus solaris (Grey-chinned Minivet)

Grey-chinned Minivet

Grey-chinned Minivet
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. solaris
Binomial name
Pericrocotus solaris Blyth, 1846

The Grey-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.

It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

>Pericrocotus erythropygius (White-bellied Minivet)

White-bellied Minivet

White-bellied Minivet
at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. erythropygius
Binomial name
Pericrocotus erythropygius (Jerdon, 1840)

at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

Male at Gir National Park, Gujarat, India.

The White-bellied Minivet (Pericrocotus erythropygius) is a species of minivet found in India, mostly in dry deciduous forest.

The species is characterized by stable population trend and extent of occurrence of more than 20 thousand km².

>Pericrocotus lansbergei (Little Minivet)

Little Minivet

Little Minivet
A pair above a Chestnut-backed Thrush(Geokichla dohertyi)
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. lansbergei
Binomial name
Pericrocotus lansbergei Büttikofer, 1886

The Little Minivet (Pericrocotus lansbergei), also known as the Flores Minivet, is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It isendemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

>Pericrocotus igneus (Fiery Minivet)

Fiery Minivet

Fiery Minivet
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. igneus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus igneus Blyth, 1846

The Fiery Minivet (Pericrocotus igneus) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

>Pericrocotus cinnamomeus (Small Minivet)

Small Minivet

Small Minivet
Male P. c. pallidus at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Campephagidae
Genus:	Pericrocotus
Species:	P. cinnamomeus
Binomial name
Pericrocotus cinnamomeus Linnaeus, 1766

Male P. c. malabaricus in Shamirpet,Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India

The Small Minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus) is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia.

Female P. c. malabaricus in Hyderabad, India

Description

The Small Minivet is 16 cm long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male differs from most other common minivets by having grey, not glossy black, upperparts and head, and orange underparts, fading to yellow on the belly, orange tail edges, rump and wing patches.

The female is grey above, with yellow underparts (including the face), tail edges, rump and wing patches.

There is much racial variation. The male P. c. pallidus of the northwest Indian subcontinent is pale grey above, with the underparts whitish except on the throat and flanks, whereas the male P. c. malabaricus of peninsular and southern India is darker above, has more extensive scarlet below. The female of the southern race is also brighter yellow below.

Behaviour

The Small Minivet is a widespread and common resident breeding bird in thorn jungle and scrub. The nest is a cup-like structure into which two to four spotted eggs are laid and incubated by the female.

This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. The Small Minivet will form small flocks. Its call is a high, thinswee swee swee.

Other views, plumages and races

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  Male P. c. pallidus at Bharatpur, Rajasthan,India
 
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  Male P. c. pallidus at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India
 
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  Female P. c. pallidus at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India
 
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  The southern race in Sri Lanka
 
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  Female P. c. malabaricusin Hyderabad, India
 
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  Male P. c. malabaricus in Hyderabad, India
 
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  Male P. c. malabaricus in Hyderabad, India
 
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  Female P. c. malabaricuspreening in Shamirpet,Rangareddy district,Andhra Pradesh, India