Thai National Parks

Species of Thailand

Scarlet minivet

Pericrocotus speciosus

John Aubrey Clarendon Latham, 1790

In Thai: นกพญาไฟใหญ่

The scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) is a small passerine bird. This minivet is found in tropical southern Asia from India, Sri Lanka to southern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are common resident breeding birds in forests and other well-wooded habitats including gardens, especially in hilly country. While the male of most subspecies are scarlet to orange with black upper parts, the females are usually yellow with greyish olive upper parts. Several former subspecies have been elevated to a species status in recent works. These include the orange minivet. All subspecies have the same habits of gleaning for insects and are often seen in mixed-species foraging flocks, usually foraging in small groups, high up in the forest canopy.

Description

The scarlet minivet is 20 – 22 cm long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male has black upperparts and head, and scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump and wing patches. The shape and colour of the wing patches and the shade or orange in the male varies across populations. In the subspecies nigroluteus and marchesae from south Philippines the scarlet/orange is entirely replaced by yellow. The female is grey above, with yellow underparts (including the face), tail edges, rump and wing patches.

Taxonomy and systematics

There is considerable geographic variation in this species and several disjunct populations exist. Some former races are sometimes considered full species requiring the reorganization of other former subspecies. As many as nineteen subspecies have been described:

  • speciosus (Latham, 1790) along the Himalayas
    • fraterculus Swinhoe, 1870 is found in the northeast of India and extends into Myanmar, Yunnan and Hainan
    • semiruber Whistler & Kinnear, 1933 is found in southern Myanmar and Thailand
    • andamanensis Beavan, 1867 - Andaman Islands
  • fohkiensis Buturlin, 1910 is found in southeastern China
  • flammifer Hume, 1875 is found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia
  • xanthogaster (Raffles, 1822) is found in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra

Several isolated island forms that have been described include:

  • minythomelas Oberholser, 1912 is an insular form described from Simeulue Island off Sumatra.
  • modiglianii Salvadori, 1892 from Enggano Island
  • insulanus Deignan, 1946 from Borneo.
  • siebersi Rensch, 1928 from Java and Bali.
  • exul Wallace, 1864 from Lombok
  • novus McGregor, 1904 from Luzon and Negros
  • leytensis Steere, 1890 from Samar, Leyte and Bohol
  • gonzalesi Ripley & Rabor, 1961 from N & E Mindanao
  • nigroluteus Parkes, 1981 from south central Mindanao
  • johnstoniae Ogilvie-Grant, 1905 from Mt. Apo in southeastern Mindanao
  • marchesae Guillemard, 1885 from the Sulu Archipelago

Ecology and behaviour

This minivet catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It flushes insects out of foliage by beating its wings hard. Scarlet minivet will form small flocks. Its song is a pleasant whistling. This bird nests high up in the treetops. The nest is a cup-like structure woven with small twigs and spiders' webs to increase the strength of the nest. Two or three spotted pale green eggs are laid. Incubation is mainly by the female, but both birds help to raise the offspring.

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Category / Seasonal Status

BCST Category: Recorded in an apparently wild state within the last 50 years

BCST Seasonal status: Resident or presumed resident

Scientific classification

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Campephagidae
Genus
Pericrocotus
Species
Pericrocotus speciosus

Common names

  • Thai: นกพญาไฟใหญ่

Subspecies

  • Pericrocotus speciosus andamanensis, Robert Cecil Beavan, 1867

    Range: Andaman Islands

  • Pericrocotus speciosus exul, Alfred Russel Wallace, 1864

    Range: Lombok

  • Pericrocotus speciosus flammifer, Allan Octavian Hume, 1875

    Range: Found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia

  • Pericrocotus speciosus fohkiensis, Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin, 1910

    Range: Found in southeastern China

  • Pericrocotus speciosus fraterculus, Robert Swinhoe, 1870

    Range: Found in the northeast of India and extends into Myanmar, Yunnan and Hainan

  • Pericrocotus speciosus gonzalesi, Sidney Dillon Ripley & Dioscoro Siarot Rabor, 1961

    Range: N & E Mindanao

  • Pericrocotus speciosus insulanus, Herbert Girton Deignan, 1946

    Range: Borneo

  • Pericrocotus speciosus johnstoniae, William Robert Ogilvie-Grant, 1905

    Range: Mt. Apo in southeastern Mindanao

  • Pericrocotus speciosus leytensis, Joseph Beal Steere, 1890

    Range: Samar, Leyte and Bohol

  • Pericrocotus speciosus marchesae, Francis Henry Hill Guillemard, 1885

    Range: Sulu Archipelago

  • Pericrocotus speciosus minythomelas, Harry Church Oberholser, 1912

    Range: An insular form described from Simeulue Island off Sumatra.

  • Pericrocotus speciosus modiglianii, Tommaso Salvadori, 1892

    Range: Enggano Island

  • Pericrocotus speciosus nigroluteus, Kenneth Carroll Parkes, 1981

    Range: South central Mindanao

  • Pericrocotus speciosus novus, Ernest Alexander McGregor, 1904

    Range: Luzon and Negros

  • Pericrocotus speciosus semiruber, Hugh Whistler & Norman Boyd Kinnear, 1933

    Range: Found in southern Myanmar and Thailand

  • Pericrocotus speciosus siebersi, Bernhard Rensch, 1928

    Range: Java and Bali

  • Pericrocotus speciosus speciosus, John Aubrey Clarendon Latham, 1790

    Range: Himalayas

  • Pericrocotus speciosus xanthogaster, Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1822

    Range: Found in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Photos

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Scarlet minivet (male)
Scarlet minivet (female)

Range Map

Distribution map of Scarlet minivet, Pericrocotus speciosus in Thailand
  • Chae Son National Park
  • Chiang Dao District, Chiang Mai
  • Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai
  • Doi Inthanon National Park
  • Doi Lang
  • Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park
  • Doi Phu Kha National Park
  • Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai
  • Doi Suthep - Pui National Park
  • Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Hang Chat District, Lampang
  • Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Huai Nam Dang National Park
  • Kaeng Krachan National Park
  • Khao Luang National Park
  • Khao Nan National Park
  • Khao Phra - Bang Khram Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Khao Sok National Park
  • Khao Yai National Park
  • Khiri Rat Nikhom District, Surat Thani
  • Khon San District, Chaiyaphum
  • Khun Chae National Park
  • Khun Korn Forest Park
  • Khun Nan National Park
  • Khun Tan District, Chiang Rai
  • Ko Chang National Park
  • Ko Samui District, Surat Thani
  • Kromluang Chumphon Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Kui Buri National Park
  • Lam Nam Kok National Park
  • Mae Ai District, Chiang Mai
  • Mae Fa Luang District, Chiang Rai
  • Mae Moei National Park
  • Mae Ping National Park
  • Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai
  • Mae Wong National Park
  • Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai
  • Mueang Chumphon District, Chumphon
  • Nam Nao National Park
  • Nanthaburi National Park
  • Nong Bong Khai Non-Hunting Area
  • Op Khan National Park
  • Pachee River Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Pang Sida National Park
  • Pha Daeng National Park
  • Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
  • Phu Chi Fa Forest Park
  • Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park
  • Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Phu Kradueng National Park
  • Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Phu Ruea National Park
  • Phu Soi Dao National Park
  • Phu Suan Sai National Park
  • Phu Wiang National Park
  • Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi
  • Sakaerat Environmental Research Station
  • Salawin National Park
  • Sangkhla Buri District, Kanchanaburi
  • Sri Phang-nga National Park
  • Taksin Maharat National Park
  • Tat Mok National Park
  • Thale Ban National Park
  • Thap Lan National Park
  • Thong Pha Phum National Park
  • Thung Salaeng Luang National Park
  • Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Ton Nga-Chang Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Wang Mai Forest Restoration Project
Range map of Pericrocotus speciosus in Thailand