Indian Silverbill

Lonchura malabarica

Pinzón Pico Plateado, Pinzón de Pico Plateado

Audio (M. Oberle)

IDENTIFICATION: This small brown finch has a thick, dark gray or silver bill. Adults are light brown above, with darker wings, white rump and undersides, and a dark, pointed tail. Immatures (see photos below) are darker brown above. Length: 12 cm.; weight: 10-14 g.

VOICE: A short plaintive note often with a sharp inflection at the beginning. Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Brushy fields and roadsides.

HABITS: Travels in small flocks and will often allow a close approach. Feeds on seeds. The nest is a spherical grass ball, 2-4 m. above the ground; 3-6 eggs.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An introduced species, locally common in coastal Puerto Rico, especially along the southwest coast.

RANGE: A native of South Asia from the Arabian Peninsula east to Bangaldesh and Sri Lanka. This species was probably introduced from India. It is still commonly kept as a cage bird. Regular sites to find this species are the brushy slopes around the Cabo Rojo lighthouse and at La Parguera.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; ESTRILDIDAE; Estrildinae. Also called White-throated Munia, White-throated Silverbill, or Ricebird. This species was formerly lumped with the African Silverbill, (Lonchura cantans) and called the Warbling Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica). The Indian Silverbill retained the original Latin name when the species complex was split. The African Silverbill is kept as a cagebird in Puerto Rico, and might be expected to occur as an occasional escapee. It has a dark brown rump, in contrast to the white rump of the Indian Silverbill.

References

Camacho Rodríguez, M., J. Chabert Llompart, and M. López Flores. 1999. Guía para la identificación de las aves exóticas establecidas en Puerto Rico. Depto. de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, San Juan, PR.

Clement, P., A. Harris, and J. Davis. 1993. Finches and sparrows: an identification guide. Princeton Univ. Press.

Harrison, C. J. O. 1964. The taxonomic status of the African Silverbill Lonchura cantans and the Indian Silverbill Lonchura malabarica.. Ibis 106: 462-468.

Moreno, Jorge A. 1997. Review of the subspecific status and origin of introduced finches in Puerto Rico. Carib. J. Sci. 33(3-4): 233-238.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. and C. B. Kepler. 1992. Earliest records of the recently introduced avifauna of Puerto Rico. Ornitología Caribeña 3:20-29.

Restall, R. 1996. Munias and mannikins. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.

Indian Silverbill, Spanish text

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