Black-headed Munia
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Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae

[Photo] Adult Black-headed Munia (Lonchura atricapilla). Source: Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/64684201@N00/229028185/). Date 09/06/2006. Author: Johnny Wee (www.flickr.com/photos/64684201@N00/229028185).

The Black-headed Munia, Lonchura atricapilla (formerly considered as a subspecies of the Tricoloured Munia Lonchura malacca atricapilla) also known as Chestnut Munia, is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, & Vietnam. Known as maya pula ("red maya", to distinguish it from the predominantly brownish Tree Sparrow which is also called maya) in the Philippines, this bird was the former national bird of the Philippines (the Philippine national bird is now the Philippine eagle).

Subspecies
The Black-headed Munia has several subspecies that are recognized as followed:

Nominate race Lonchura atricapilla atricapilla
Lonchura atricapilla rubroniger
Lonchura atricapilla sinensis
Lonchura atricapilla formosana
Lonchura atricapilla deignani
Lonchura atricapilla brunneiceps
Lonchura atricapilla jagori
Lonchura atricapilla selimbauensis
Lonchura atricapilla obscura
Lonchura atricapilla batakana

Habitat
The Black-headed Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on grain and other seeds. It frequents open grassland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a bush or tall grass into which 4-7 white eggs are laid.

Characteristics
The Black-headed Munia is 11-12 cm in length. The adult has a stubby pale grey bill, black head, and brown body. Some races also have a black belly.

The sexes are similar, but immature birds have uniform pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head and have white to pale buff underparts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-headed_Munia

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