Scaly-breasted Munia Life History

Habitat

Scaly-breasted Munias inhabit grasslands, farmland, rice fields, young forest with grassy clearings, and other open habitats. They are also common in human-built settings, including parks, gardens, and golf courses.

Food

Scaly-breasted Munias feed mainly on the seeds of grasses and weedy plants. They pluck seeds directly from seedheads and also eat fallen seeds on the ground. This species also eats rice and other cultivated grains and is considered an agricultural pest in some areas.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Both sexes contribute to building the nest, which is often located in a tree or shrub but is sometimes placed in a hole in a building or roof. Pairs push grasses and other nesting materials into place, rather than weaving them together. Some nesting birds continually add grass blades and heads, resulting in very large structures. The nest is often 4–5 meters (13–16 feet) above the ground and is typically well concealed.

Nest Description

A large, loose ball with a side entrance. The outer part of the nest is built with green grasses, dry grasses and leaves, twigs, and pieces of bark, while the inside is lined with soft, fine grasses and possibly feathers.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Scaly-breasted Munia is a social species, with birds joining small foraging groups during the breeding season and forming flocks of hundreds at other times of the year. Although they forage largely at ground level, these munias assemble high in trees near the end of the day shortly before they fly off to evening roosts. In some areas, Scaly-breasted Munias usually breed colonially, with multiple nests in the same tree, but in other areas pairs nest alone. In its native range in Southeast Asia, this species breeds throughout the year, whenever conditions are good for nesting. Because Scaly-breasted Munias often breed colonially, with nests sometimes just inches apart, it is not uncommon to see extra-large clutches, thought to be from two females laying their eggs in the same nest. Both sexes incubate the eggs and stay on the nest together overnight. The eggs hatch after about 14 days and adults feed regurgitated seeds to the chicks, which fledge after about 18–19 days.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Scaly-breasted Munia’s conservation status as Least Concern. While there is no population estimate for this species, it has an extremely large range and a stable population trend.

Credits

BirdLife International. 2016. Lonchura punctulata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22719821A94646304. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22719821A94646304.en.

Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp (2011). A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Hsiao, M. C., and C. L. Li (2017). A Field Guide to the Birds of Taiwan. Wild Bird Society of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.

Payne, R. B. (2020). Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.nutman.01

Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2012). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. 2nd edition. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., USA.

Restall, R.L. (1997). Munias and Mannikins. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

Back to top