Ashy minivet

(Photo from Flickriver)

Common name:
ashy minivet (en); minivete-sombrio (pt); minivet cendré (fr); minivete sombrío (es); graumennigvogel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae


Range:
This Asian species breeds in south-eastern Russia, north-eastern China, Korea and Japan. They migrate south to winter in Southeast Asia as far south as Indonesia and the Philippines.


Size:
These birds are 18-20 cm long and weigh 25 g.


Habitat:
Ashy minivets are mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical moist forests and in temperate forests. They can also be found in a wide range of wooded habitats including swamp forests, mangroves, plantations and even dry scrublands and urban parks and gardens.


Diet:
They often join mixed-species flocks, foraging in the forest canopy for insects and other small arthropods.


Breeding:
Ashy minivets breed in March-July. The nest is a broad shallow cup made of twigs, placed high in the tree canopy. There the female lays 4-7 brownish-green eggs with brown blotches, which are incubated for 17-18 days. The chicks fledge 16-17 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status – LC (Least concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common in China, fairly common but local in Japan and uncommon to locally common in its non-breeding range in Southeast Asia. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.