The white-bellied minivet (''Pericrocotus erythropygius'') is a species of

minivet The minivets are passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. There are about 15 species, occurring mainly in forests in southern and eastern Asia. They are fairly small, slender birds with lon ...

found in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, mostly in dry deciduous forest.

Etymology

The origin of the

vernacular name A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

of minivets is not known but it seems to be the English adaptation of an Indian name perhaps imitative. The genus

Pericrocotus The minivets are passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. There are about 15 species, occurring mainly in forests in southern and eastern Asia. They are fairly small, slender birds with lon ...

seems to be related to the

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

color of some minivets.

Description

The male white-bellied minivet has a shiny black head, neck, tail and mantle. The species has a white collar, the throat is orange, the rest of the underparts are also white. The rump is orange with white markings on the wings. The female minivet is duller in appearance, with dark gray upperparts, black wings, white collar, black tail and shiny black lores. The

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

have white markings similar to those of the males, and the rump is orange. It measures between 18.5 and 20 cm long.

Habitat and behavior

The white-bellied minivet is native to

and

, mainly in dry

deciduous forests In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, afte ...

. This species inhabits open

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

with sparse

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

shoots, dry grasslands and artificial terrestrial areas such as agricultural land. It occupies an extremely large area of occurrence of over 20,000 km. The minivet usually moves in small groups, sometimes joining other species. It feeds mainly on

insects 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 pairs of j ...

that it catches in flight or by perching in the canopy of trees. Its voice is a pleasant whistle.

Reproduction

This bird makes its

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

high in the tree tops. The nest is a cup-shaped structure woven with small twigs and spider webs to increase the strength of the nest. Usually four

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are laid. These are incubated for 17 to 18 days. Incubation is mainly done by the female, but both birds help raise the offspring.

Subspecies

There are two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the white-bellied minivet : ''P. e. albifrons'': present in the

plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...

in central

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

; ''P. e. erythropygius'' : present in peninsular

( Punjab and Rajasthan to Bihar and Mysore).

Conservation status

The population is stable, it is considered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as " least concern".

Gallery

Image:White-bellied Minivet (Female) I IMG 8058.jpg, left, White-bellied minivet at Bharatpur, Rajasthan,

. Image:white bellied minivet.jpg, left, Male at Gir National Park, Gujarat,

References

white-bellied minivet Birds of India white-bellied minivet {{Campephagidae-stub