Lonchura kelaarti
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The black-throated munia or Jerdon's mannikin (Lonchura kelaarti) is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in the hills of southwest India, the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka.
The black-throated munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents open hill woodland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or creepers on a house into which 3-8 white eggs are laid in India, and usually five in Sri Lanka.
The black-throated munia is 12cm in length with a long black tail. The adult of the southwest Indian population, L. k. jerdoni, has a stubby grey bill, dark brown upperparts with pale shaft streaks; a blackish face and bib; and pinkish brown underparts with scaly marking towards the vent. The Eastern Ghats form vernayi has paler pinkish underparts. The nominate form L. k. kelaarti of Sri Lanka has scaly patterning on the underparts and vent with the pale almost whitish shaft streaks contrasting on the darker back. The sexes are similar in all populations, but immatures lack the darker face and have more uniform underparts.
The binomial... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-throated Munia sighting in Mudumalai National Park on a given day, based on 112 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-throated Munia in Mudumalai National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May and December, the lowest months. That is one of Mudumalai National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 230 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-throated Munia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Black-throated Munia sightings, Mudumalai National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 10%) and Periyar National Park (India, about 10%).
Same genus: Lonchura
The closest relatives of the Black-throated Munia that you can see in Mudumalai National Park (genus Lonchura, Typical Munias and Mannikins) are Nutmeg Mannikin (about 10%) and White-rumped Munia (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-throated Munia is recorded against all the birds logged in Mudumalai National Park (112 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
