Small Minivet

A group of four Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus was seen well in a vegetated area above a pond surrounded by trees. We had made a short stop at a temple alongside a very wide river close to Bangkok domestic airport where we were soon to catch a flight to Chiang Mai. This was the only occasion when we were fortunate to see this species on the tour and some of the key identification features of the male bird are evident in this photo: dark grey throat, crown, nape, mantle and back; dark legs and bill; orange-yellow wing patches.

Small Minivet is a small passerine found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia. There is much racial variation. The subspecies P.c.viridus, P.c.separatus and P.c.thai are all found in Thailand but I have no further infmoration on how to separate them. It is a widespread and common resident breeding bird in thorn jungle and scrub. This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It will form small flocks and its call is a high, thin swee swee swee.

Reference: Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp (1998) Birds of the Indian Subcontinent p.605, published by Helm; Birds of South-East Asia, Craig Robson (2010), p. 174 New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.; Wikipedia