Lonchura maja
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The white-headed munia (Lonchura maja) is a small passerine bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. This species is often confused with, and referred to as, the Pale-headed munia (Lonchura pallida) which can be differentiated by tan coloured flanks which are lighter than the brown wings and also by the absence of the black belly.
The white-headed munia was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia maja. Linnaeus cited George Edwards's "The Malacca Gros-beak" and Mathurin Jacques Brisson's "Le Maia de la Chine". The English naturalist John Ray used the word "Maia" for a Cuban bird in 1768. Linnaeus specified the locality as East India. This was amended to Malacca in 1924. The white-headed munia is now placed in the genus Lonchura that was introduced by the English naturalist William Henry Sykes in 1832. It is treated as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The White-headed munia has a distinctive chocolate-brown body and a contrasting white head and throat. They are typically 11 cm in length and weigh around 11 grams. Adult birds have... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Semarang | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Denpasar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Surabaya | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 6 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 7 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a White-headed Munia sighting in Yogyakarta on a given day, based on 101 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 42 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a White-headed Munia in Yogyakarta on a given day, against about 40% in August and October, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-headed Munia sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 8 cities where we can rate White-headed Munia sightings, Yogyakarta has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Semarang (Indonesia, about 40%) and Denpasar (Indonesia, about 40%).
Same genus: Lonchura
The closest relatives of the White-headed Munia that you can see in Yogyakarta (genus Lonchura, Typical Munias and Mannikins) are Javan Munia (about 80%) and Nutmeg Mannikin (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-headed Munia is recorded against all the birds logged in Yogyakarta (101 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
