Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.
Photo: Adam Bridger © OzBirds
Distribution map of Lonchura castaneothorax
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
Scientific name: Lonchura castaneothorax
Family: Passeridae
Order: Passeriformes
What does it look like?
Description
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is a thick-set brown finch with a grey crown, black face and a heavy grey bill. It has a chestnut brown breast divided from white underparts by a black bar. The rump and tail are golden orange, with a black undertail. Females are paler than males and young birds are uniformly olive-brown above, pale below with a brown-buff chest and no black face or chest bar. Like other finches, this species is a very social bird and is most often seen in flocks.
Similar species
The related Yellow-rumped Mannikin, L. flaviprymna, which lacks the black face and chest bar, can interbreed with the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin and produce intermediate forms.
Where does it live?
Distribution
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is found across northern and eastern coastal Australia, from the Kimberley region, Northern Territory, to the Shoalhaven River, New South Wales. It is also found in New Guinea.
Habitat
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is found in reed beds, long grasses, swamps and mangroves.
Seasonal movements
Locally nomadic, especially in the north. Can form flocks of several hundred birds.
What does it do?
Feeding
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin feeds on grass seeds, usually on the stalk rather than from the ground. It will also eat winged termites at the beginning of breeding season.
Breeding
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin nests in colonies, with the nests close together in grass clumps, sugar cane or reeds, less than 2 m from the ground. The rounded nest is made from green or dried grass blades and is lined with fine grasses. It lacks an entrance tunnel but the entrance may have a hood. Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young, but only the female stays in the nest overnight.
Living with us
Living with humans
The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin may be an occasional pest of crops. Aviary escapees may also be found in areas outside its natural range.
References
Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Schodde, R. and Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Strahan, R. (ed) 1996. Finches, Bowerbirds and Other Passerines of Australia. Angus and Robertson and the National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney.
Simpson, K and Day, N. 1999. Field guide to the birds of Australia, 6th Edition. Penguin Books, Australia.