The Scarlet Minivets (Pericrocotus flammeus) – or Orange Minivets – are found in tropical southern Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Description
The Scarlet Minivets is 20-22 cm long with a strong dark beak and long wings.
Males and females can easily be distinguished, as t the male is scarlet to orange with black upper parts, the females are usually yellow with greyish-olive upper parts.
The male has black upperparts and head. The plumage below is scarlet red, as are the edges of the tail, the rump, and the wing patches. The shape and color of the wing patches and the shade of orange in the male varies across subspecies.
The female is grey above and her face and the plumage below is yellow, as are the tail edges, her rump and wing patches.
Recognized Subspecies
- Pericrocotus speciosus (Latham, 1790)
- Found along the Himalayas mountain range
- Pericrocotus speciosus fraterculus (Swinhoe, 1870) – Found in the northeast of India and extends into Myanmar, Yunnan and HainanPericrocotus speciosus semiruber (Whistler and Kinnear, 1933) – Found in southern Myanmar and Thailandandamanensis speciosus (Beavan, 1867) – Found on the Andaman Islands
- Found along the Himalayas mountain range
- Pericrocotus flammeus (J. R. Forster, 1781)
- Found in the Western Ghats, Nilgiris and Sri Lanka
- Pericrocotus fohkiensis (Buturlin, 1910)
- Found in southeastern China
- Pericrocotus flammifer (Hume, 1875)
- Found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia
- Pericrocotus xanthogaster (Raffles, 1822)
- Found in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra
- Pericrocotus minythomelas (Oberholser, 1912)
- Occurs on Simeulue Island off Sumatra
- Pericrocotus modiglianii (Salvadori, 1892)
- Found on Enggano Island
- Pericrocotus insulanus (Deignan, 1946)
- Found on Borneo
- Pericrocotus siebersi (Rensch, 1928)
- Found on Java and Bali
- Pericrocotus exul (Wallace, 1864)
- Found on Lombok
- Pericrocotus novus (McGregor, 1904)
- Found on Luzon and Negros
- Pericrocotus leytensis (Steere, 1890)
- Found on the islands of Samar, Leyte and Bohol
- Pericrocotus gonzalesi (Ripley and Rabor, 1961)
- Found in northern and eastern Mindanao
- Pericrocotus nigroluteus (Parkes, 1981)
- Found in south central Mindanao
- Pericrocotus johnstoniae (Ogilvie-Grant, 1905)
- Found on Mount Apo in the island of Mindanao, Philippines
- Pericrocotus marchesae (Guillemard, 1885)
- Range: Sulu Archipelago
Diet / Feeding
They mostly feed on insects gleaned from foliage high up in the forest canopy. They often join mixed-species foraging flocks.
They catch insects in trees by flycatching or while perched, flushing insects out of foliage by beating their wings.
Breeding / Nesting
They place their cup-shaped nests high up in the treetops. The nests are woven with small twigs held together by spiders’ webs .
The average clutch consists of two or three spotted pale green eggs, which are incubated by the female alone while the male brings food to her to eat.
Both parents raise the young together.
Song / Vocalizations
Their songs consist of pleasant, melodic whistling.
