The minivets are
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s belonging to the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Pericrocotus'' in the
cuckooshrike
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the family Campephagidae are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The 93 species are divided into 11 genera. The woodshrikes ('' Tephrodor ...
family Campephagidae. There are about 15 species, occurring mainly in forests in southern and eastern
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. They are fairly small, slender birds with long tails and an erect posture. Many species have bright red or yellow markings. They feed mainly on
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s, foraging in groups in the tree canopy.
Species list
The genus contains 15 species:
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Rosy minivet, ''Pericrocotus roseus''
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Swinhoe's minivet or brown-rumped minivet, ''Pericrocotus cantonensis''
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Ashy minivet
The ashy minivet (''Pericrocotus divaricatus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the minivet genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. While most of the minivets have shades of yellow, orange and red in thei ...
, ''Pericrocotus divaricatus''
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Ryukyu minivet, ''Pericrocotus tegimae''
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Small minivet
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
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Sou ...
, ''Pericrocotus cinnamomeus''
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Fiery minivet, ''Pericrocotus igneus''
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Little minivet, ''Pericrocotus lansbergei''
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White-bellied minivet
The white-bellied minivet (''Pericrocotus erythropygius'') is a species of minivet found in Nepal and India, mostly in dry deciduous forest.
Etymology
The origin of the vernacular name of minivets is not known but it seems to be the English ad ...
, ''Pericrocotus erythropygius''
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Jerdon's minivet, ''Pericrocotus albifrons''
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Grey-chinned minivet, ''Pericrocotus solaris''
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Long-tailed minivet
The long-tailed minivet (''Pericrocotus ethologus'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in southern and south-eastern Asia where it occurs in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakis ...
, ''Pericrocotus ethologus''
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Short-billed minivet, ''Pericrocotus brevirostris''
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Sunda minivet, ''Pericrocotus miniatus''
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Scarlet minivet, ''Pericrocotus speciosus''
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Orange minivet
The orange minivet (''Pericrocotus flammeus'') is a brightly colored bird in the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae.
It is found all along the Western Ghats and west coast of India and Sri Lanka.
It was formerly considered a subspecies of the ...
, ''Pericrocotus flammeus''
References
*Perrins, Christopher, ''ed.'' (2004) ''The New Encyclopedia of Birds'', Oxford University Press, Oxford.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1082724
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Bird genera