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.