Minivets: Small, Ember Birds of Tropical Forests

“Kya dekh rahai ho?” (What are you looking at?), an old gentleman asked me as I gazed transfixed through binoculars at the tall aerial of a bamboo shoot abutting a wild, unkempt section of the Northern Ridge in Delhi.

“That bird!” I murmured and pointed. Poised against the blue sky, its back as straight as a soldier, and dressed in scarlet and black like one of those guardsmen in front of Buckingham Palace, was a scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus flammeus speciosus) — the first that I had seen on the Northern Ridge in Delhi. Of course, it could have been the very similar long-tailed minivet (Pericrocotus ethologus) or even the slightly smaller short-billed minivet (Pericrocotus brevirostis), but I wasn’t quibbling. The gentleman spotted it when I handed him the glasses and simply went, “Wah! Wow! Only you people can find birds like this.” 

The glamorous scarlet minivet is a resident of the Himalayas and hills of India and does not travel much, though the one I encountered (in February) was obviously visiting Delhi. While the gentlemen are a vivid scarlet and black, the ladies are grey and olive with yellow below (and on the face, outer rim of the tail, and wing patches). They have a pleasant trilling call and may hunt in parties of up to 30 birds. For a long time, scarlet minivets were known as orange minivets, but we now know that orange minivets are a separate species (Pericrocotus flammeus) residing in the Western Ghats and west coast of India.

The long-tailed minivet (Pericrocotus ethologus) does have a longer tail than the scarlet minivet. However, it may be troublesome to differentiate the two if they are not side by side. The long-tailed minivet also has a “lumpy” fork-shaped scarlet mark on its folded black wings, in contrast to the jagged “lightning bolt” marking on the scarlet minivet’s wings. Long-tailed minivets inhabit mid-to-high altitude forests, foraging in pairs or small flocks, keeping in touch with a pleasant “dee-dee” and “pr-wee, pr-wee” trill. They have been described as partially migratory — with northern populations moving south in order to breed between April and June. 

The rosy minivet (Pericrocotus roseus) looks like a watercolour minivet with blushing pink in its breast, deepening to ruby on its black wings and tail (which is olive green-yellow on the ladies) and ashy-slate grey on its head and shoulders. In India, it is found in the Himalayas, stretching from the western parts of the range to the Northeastern states.

Also inhabiting the eastern foothills of the Himalayas is the grey-chinned minivet (Pericrocotus solaris). Males have a dark grey head and mantle, pale grey chin, and orange-yellow throat. Charmingly, a courting gentleman of this species has been observed offering a flower, carried in his bill, to his lady love and dropping it at her feet, after which, of course, she is in no position to refuse him anything, especially the honeymoon that follows immediately afterwards! Sadly, I have not been able to unearth similar behaviour reported from the other species of minivets, which is perhaps an indication of the lack of research into the behaviour of these brilliant birds.  

The ashy minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus), like the simple relative of a glamorous clan, is perhaps the least eye-catching of the family, clad in greys, whites, and blacks. Its forehead is white, the nape and top and sides of its head black, the mantle, wings and tail grey, while the chin and underparts are white (like the forehead).

The white-bellied minivet (Pericrocotus erythropygis) is found in dry deciduous forests; the male quite resembles the gentleman stonechat, with a polished black head, neck, mantle and tail. Its throat is burnt orange, and breast white. Ladies have shawl brown upperparts and black wings and tails. They are widespread residents of India, inhabiting open savannah, dry grasslands, agricultural land and acacia copses. 

Fortunately, most minivets have been rated as of “Least Concern” by the IUCN, though this must never lead to complacency on our part. Even the most stony-eyed cynic will not be able to hold back a gasp of sheer delight and wonder when they first encounter one of these fiery ember birds, poised against the sky or flitting like sparks among the foliage as they blithely pick off insects, calling softly to one another. 

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