Passeriformes / Campephagidae / Pericrocotus
Scarlet Minivet
Pericrocotus flammeus · 赤红山椒鸟
Introduction
A small passerine in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae, found in tropical southern Asia from Northeast India to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is a common resident breeder in forests and well-wooded habitats, especially in hilly country. Distinctive traits include gleaning for insects in mixed-species flocks high in the forest canopy.
Description
Length is 20–22 cm (7.9–8.7 in) with a strong dark beak and long wings. Males typically have black upperparts and head, with scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump, and wing patches, though shade varies by population. In subspecies nigroluteus and marchesae from the south Philippines, scarlet/orange is replaced by yellow. Females are grey above with yellow underparts, face, tail edges, rump, and wing patches.
Distribution & Habitat
Range extends across tropical southern Asia, including Northeast India, southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Nineteen subspecies are described, including speciosus along the Himalayas, fraterculus in northeast India to Hainan, and various island forms in the Andamans, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Bali, Lombok, Luzon, Mindanao, and the Sulu Archipelago. Habitat includes forests, gardens, and well-wooded areas, particularly in hilly terrain.
Behavior & Ecology
Forages by gleaning insects in trees via flycatching or from perches, often flushing prey by beating wings hard. Typically seen in small groups or mixed-species foraging flocks high in the forest canopy. Nests high in treetops using cup-like structures woven from small twigs and spiders' webs. Clutch size is two or three spotted pale green eggs. Incubation is mainly by the female, but both parents raise offspring. Song is a pleasant whistling.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Campephagidae
- Genus
- Pericrocotus
Taxonomy Changes
Pericrocotus speciosus → Pericrocotus flammeus
Subspecies lump — GBIF Backbone Taxonomy uses the former name; AviList 2025 uses the current name.
Subspecies (19)
-
Pericrocotus flammeus andamanensis
Andaman Islands
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
