Mystery bird: scarlet minivet, Pericrocotus flammeus

The minivets are special in their family because of their brilliant plumage: many species have bright red or yellow markings

Scarlet minivet, Pericrocotus flammeus (protonym, Muscicapa flammea), also known as the flame minivet, orange minivet, or the Indian minivet, photographed at Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.

Image: Marie Louise Ng, 19 May 2011 [velociraptorize].

Question: This common and widespread mystery bird is the smallest in a group whose common name implies they are closely related to two distinct groups of birds, even though there is no evidence to show they are closely related to either of these avian groups. Can you name this bird's taxonomic family and, if you're really good, can you name this species?

Response: This is a Scarlet minivet, Pericrocotus flammeus, a small slender passerine that is placed in the cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. The cuckoo-shrikes are closely related to neither the cuckoos nor the shrikes. They are known as caterpillar-birds in some parts of their range, and may actually be most closely related to the Old World orioles, Oriolidae. Among the mostly drably-coloured cuckoo-shrikes, the minivets stand out because of their brilliant plumage: many species have bright red or yellow markings. There are about 13 minivet species, although this number could change because their taxonomy is being reworked. The high variability and the presence of a number of disjunct populations has caused scientists to recently elevate some subspecies to full species status.

Like the cuckoo-shrikes, minivets are insectivorous, often perching in treetops and quickly swooping out to catch flying insects, a behaviour known as "hawking". They also glean for insects and participate in small mixed-species feeding flocks in the forest canopy. Minivets are mainly found in dense forests, often in hill country throughout southern and eastern Asia and on nearby islands.




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