Ashy Minivet
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| Ashy Minivet | ||||||||||||||
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| Pericrocotus divaricatus (Raffles, 1822) |
The Ashy Minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus) is a passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the minivet genus Pericrocotus in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae.
It is 18.5-20 cm long. The male is grey above and whitish below. It has a black cap with a white forehead and there is a white band across the flight-feathers. The bill and feet are black. The female's cap is grey apart from a black band between the bill and eye and a narrow white band above it. The call is a high-pitched, metallic trill.
It breeds in south-east Siberia, north-east China, Korea and Japan. Birds in the Ryūkyū Islands of southern Japan are commonly considered to be a separate species: Ryukyu Minivet (P. tegimae). The Ashy Minivet is a long distance migrant, wintering in South-east Asia as far south as Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines. It is found in forest as well as in more open areas with scattered trees. It forages in the tree canopy for insects. Migrant birds can often be seen in large flocks.
Four to seven eggs are laid. These are incubated for 17 to 18 days.
[edit] References
- Brazil, Mark A. (1991) The Birds of Japan, Christopher Helm, London.
- MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of China, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Robson, Craig (2002) A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. New Holland, London.
