Golden-fronted leafbird

Chloropsis aurifrons

Photo by Paul Cullen (Picasa)

Common name:

golden-fronted leafbird (en); verdim-de-testa-dourada (pt); verdin à front d'or (fr); verdín de frente dorado (es); goldstirn-blattvogel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Chloropseidae

Range:

This Asian species is found from India and Sri Lanka, through Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, and into southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam. They are also found in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, although some authors consider the local subspecies C. a. media as a separate species.

Size:

The golden-fronted leafbird is 18-19 cm long and weighs up to 45 g.

Habitat:

These birds are found in the canopies of deciduous woodland, evergreen broadleaf forests, forest edges, secondary growth (including bamboo), wooded stands in coffee and tea estates and wooded gardens. They can also be found in dry scrubland. They are present from plain level up to an altitude of 1.800 m.

Diet:

They mostly eat nectar, insects, spiders, and fruits such as guava, berries and figs.

Breeding:

The golden-fronted leafbird breeds in May-August. They nest is a shallow cup made of fine twigs, moss and leaves, which is attached to a thin branch high up in a tree. There the female lays 2-4 pale cream eggs speckled with brown. The eggs are incubated for 14-15 days and the chicks fledge 13 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common to fairly common throughout much of this range. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.