Afghanistan (B), Bangladesh, Bhutan (B), Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines (B), Singapore (B), Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Vietnam.
Introduced to Australia (B), Jamaica, Japan (B), Mauritius (B), Micronesia [Federated States of] (B), Palau (E), Puerto Rico (B), Réunion (B), Seychelles, USA, Virgin Islands (U.S.) (PE) (B).
Nest
Globular and compact, with a side-entrance, sometimes with the seeding heads of grass protruding and forming a veranda, composed of coarse grasses mixed with leaves, lined with fine grass, usually in a small shrub or bushy tree up to 5 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 7; pure white; oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: about 12 - 13 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 20 - 22 days.
Subspecies
Proposed subspecies fortior (described from Lombok) and holmesi (from Semitau, in south-western Borneo) are treated as synonyms of nisoria.
Subspecies topela, introduced to coastal eastern Australia, and occuring from Cape York Peninsula, south to around Sydney.
The following 12 subspecies are recognised:
punctulata (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern Pakistan, India (except north-east), Nepal terai and Sri Lanka.
subundulata (Godwin-Austen, 1874) - Bhutan, Bangladesh, north-eastern India (Assam) and western Myanmar.
yunnanensis Parkes, 1958 - Southern China (south-eastern Xizang, southern Sichuan, Yunnan) and northern and north-eastern Myanmar.
topela (Swinhoe, 1863) - Southern Myanmar, Thailand, south-eastern China, Hainan I, Taiwan, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
cabanisi (Sharpe, 1890) - Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Calauit, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Mindanao) and northern Borneo (coastal western Sabah and Brunei).
fretensis (Kloss, 1931) - Southern Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Nias I.
nisoria (Temminck, 1830) - Southern Borneo (western and southern Kalimantan), Java, Bali, and western Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa).
particeps (Riley, 1920) - Sulawesi.
baweana Hoogerwerf, 1963 - Bawean I, off north-eastern Java.
sumbae Mayr, 1944 - Sumba, in western Lesser Sundas.
blasii (Stresemann, 1912) - Central and eastern Lesser Sundas (Flores east to Timor and Tanimbar Is).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet