Amazing chestnut-breasted mannikin
Everyone was shocked when a thick-set bird with subdued brown and grey colouring abruptly revealed his golden-orange undertail.
The chestnut-breasted bully bird, also referred to as the chestnut-breasted mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax).
A small gray-headed bird with a brown back and a black face, thick beak, and grey head.
A black stripe separating the chestnut breast from the white underparts can be seen on the bird’s head, which is otherwise grey.
Golden orange on the rump and tail, with black on the underside.
Males are typically olive-brown above, paler below, with a brown-buff and no black face or breast bar, while females are paler.
The only endemic locations for this species are Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
However, it has been introduced to France and French Polynesia.
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin favours reed beds and thick grasses in marshes, grassy areas, and mangroves.
Cane and grain crops are also favourites. Throughout the dry season, it is seen on arid terrain, but always close to water.
These seed-loving birds have been seen in Papua New Guinea consuming wild sugar cane as well as millet and barley seed.
These birds construct colonies in close proximity to one another, around 2 metres above the ground, in grass clumps during the breeding season.
Green and/or dried grass blades that have been covered in finer grass to form a spherical nest.
Both the male and the female build the nest, incubate the eggs, and take care of the young.
This bird does not meet the IUCN size criteria for Vulnerable due to its wide range.
