Brown-cheeked fulvetta

Alcippe poioicephala

Photo by Niranjan Sant (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:

brown-cheeked fulvetta (en); fulveta-de-face-castanha (pt); alcippe à joues brunes (fr); fulveta cariparda (es); graukopfalcippe (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Timaliidae

Range:

This Asian species is found from southern and central India, westwards to Bangladesh, and into southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Size:

Brown-cheeked fulvettas are 15 cm long and weigh 13-16 g.

Habitat:

They are found in dense moist forests and rainforests, being mostly found in the forest undergrowth.

Diet:

These birds eat insects and nectar.

Breeding:

Brown-cheeked fulvettas breed in January-June. The nest is a cup, built with green moss, rootlets, lichen, leaves and grass lined with rootlets and placed in a fork or suspended from the twigs, not far from the ground. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 8-12 days. The chicks fledge 10-14 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and, although the global population size has not been quantified, the species is described as locally very common to uncommon in India, locally common in Bangladesh and China and generally common in its south-east Asian range. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation.