Scarlett Minivet on tree top, Bhutan

The scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from India 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. This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It flushes insects out of foliage by beating its wings hard. Scarlet minivet will form small flocks. Its song is a pleasant whistling. This bird nests high up in the treetops. This is found in broadleaf evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous forests, and peatswamp-forest. It eats mainly insects, including caterpillars (Lepidoptera), grasshoppers and green crickets (Orthoptera) and cicadas (Cicadidae). Not globally threatened. Widespread and common in Nepal; locally common in India, Bangladesh and China; common in Bhutan and Sri Lanka; common in SE Asia. It is classified as least concern by IUCN.

Scarlett Minivet on bamboo shoot, Bhutan

The scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from India 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. This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It flushes insects out of foliage by beating its wings hard. Scarlet minivet will form small flocks. Its song is a pleasant whistling. This bird nests high up in the treetops. This is found in broadleaf evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous forests, and peatswamp-forest. It eats mainly insects, including caterpillars (Lepidoptera), grasshoppers and green crickets (Orthoptera) and cicadas (Cicadidae). Not globally threatened. Widespread and common in Nepal; locally common in India, Bangladesh and China; common in Bhutan and Sri Lanka; common in SE Asia. It is classified as least concern by IUCN.

Sultan tit feeding on a kill, Bhutan

The sultan tit (Melanochlora sultanea) is a large songbird (about 17 cm long) with a yellow crest, dark bill, black upperparts plumage and yellow underparts. The sexes are similar. The female has greenish black upperparts and yellowish throat. The young bird is duller than the adult and has a shorter crest. The male has the forehead and crown with the crest brilliant yellow; the whole upper plumage, sides of the head and neck, chin, throat, and breast deep black glossed with green, the edges of the feathers of the upper plumage with a metallic lustre, and the outermost tail-feathers tipped with white; lower plumage from the breast downwards deep yellow, the thighs barred or mottled with white. The recumbent crest is raised when the bird is alert or alarmed. In India, this species occurs in the lower ranges of the Himalayas from Nepal to the head of the Assam valley, the Khasi hills, Cachar, Manipur, the Kakhyen hills east of Bhamo, Arrakan, the Pegu hills, Karennee, and Tenasserim. This species does not appear to be found above 4000 feet of elevation. It extends down the Malay peninsula. It frequents the larger trees in small flocks. Diet is chiefly small invertebrates […]

Golden Langur family with baby, Bhutan

  Gee’s golden langur or simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. It is one of the most endangered primate species of India. Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist E. P. Gee in the 1950s. The coat of the adult golden langur ranges from cream to golden; on its flanks and chest the hairs are darker and often rust coloured; the coats of the juveniles and females are lighter, silvery white to light buff. The golden langur has a black face and a very long tail measuring up to 50 cm (19.69 in) in length. Apart from their fur, Gee’s golden langurs are known for having long tails which can grow up to 39 inches long, even longer than their bodies, especially in males. They use these tails to swing from one tree to another. When they are alarmed, however, they will leap from tree to tree instead. The regions of its distribution are very small; the main region is limited […]

Iridescence of green tailed sunbird male

The green-tailed sunbird or Nepal yellow-backed sunbird is a species of bird found in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, stretching eastwards into parts of Southeast Asia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. In southeast Szechwan and Yunnan, it lives in open mountain woods with moss-covered trees, from 1825 to 3350 meters elevation. Food thought to be small arthropods and nectar. Forages singly and in small, loose groups; often in canopy, but also at lower levels. Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon in NW & NC India but common in NE; widespread and common in Nepal; common in Bhutan; locally common in Myanmar above 1800 m. Widely distributed within suitable habitats throughout its large range, green-tailed sunbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.