Scarlet Minivet adult female

Minivets including the species Scarlet Minivet comprise fifteen members of the ninety one strong Cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. I have absolutely no idea why they are in the same family as they seem to have very little in common with Cuckooshrikes and Cicadabirds found in the Oriental, Australasian and Ethiopian bird areas. (This is a bird watcher speaking rather than a scientist).

Minivets are incredibly beautiful birds and Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus speciosus is especially so. This species was seen on seven of our tour days with six birds in total on this particular day including this adult female bird foraging for food in a bush. The photo shows some of the key features of a female Scarlet Minivet including a yellow forecrown and all bright yellow underparts. The most important feature needed to separate Scarlet from other Minivets is the split yellow patch on the secondaries and tertials which is just visible in the photo.

Scarlet Minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are common resident breeding birds in forests and other well-wooded habitats including gardens, especially in hilly country. While the male of most subspecies are scarlet to orange with black upper parts, the females are usually yellow with greyish olive upper parts. Several former subspecies have been elevated to species status in recent works and these include the Orange Minivet. All subspecies have the same habits of gleaning for insects and are often seen in mixed species foraging flocks, usually foraging in small groups high up in the forest canopy.

Reference: Wikipedia