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 Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 180 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 74th most-seen of the 156 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, March, May and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-throated Munia in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in June, the lowest month.
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.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Black-throated Munia sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mudumalai National Park (India, about 10%).
Same genus: Lonchura
The closest relatives of the Black-throated Munia that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (genus Lonchura, Typical Munias and Mannikins) are White-rumped Munia (about 30%) and Nutmeg Mannikin (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 Sinharaja Forest Reserve (180 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.
