The grey-banded mannikin (''Lonchura vana''), or grey-banded munia, is a species of

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "fi ...

known to be found in Anggi Gigi,

Tamrau Mountains The Tamrau Mountains, also known as the Tambrauw Mountains or the Tamarau Mountains, is a mountain range located in the north central region of the Bird's Head Peninsula in the province of West Papua (province), West Papua. It is made up of an isol ...

, and

Arfak Mountains The Arfak Mountains is a mountain range found on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia. The term "arfak" came from the language of the coastal Biak people, meaning "inferior." This is due to how big the mountains are ...

in the

Vogelkop Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

in north-western Papua, Indonesia. This species inhabits mid-mountain wet grassland and marshland. It also can be found on abandoned agricultural plots near human settlements.

Identification

The grey-banded mannikin is approximately 10 cm long. This species is a grey pale-headed munia with brownish-grey breast, narrow and grey lower breast-band, rufous-brown belly, dark brown mantle and wings, and pale yellow rump and tail.

Threats

Its natural habitat is reported to be destroyed by farmers for agricultural practices. However, it can be found on agricultural plots and may be able to survive in this habitat.

Conservation measures

Proposals include further identifying the bird's habitat requirements, threats to those requirements at Anggi Gigi, and conservation of wet grassland and marshland sites in Anggi Gigi as protected areas. Other potentially useful measures would be to establish whether the

Pegunungan Arfak Nature Reserve The Pegunungan Arfak Nature Reserve lies in the north-east corner of the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Indonesian province of West Papua (province), West Papua. It is located 25 km south of the provincial capital Manokwari. It spans from near ...

supports the species and to find suitable habitat in northeast Papua to conserve this species.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
grey-banded mannikin Birds of Western New Guinea grey-banded mannikin {{Estrildidae-stub