Habits
Usually in small flocks of up to 30., but also in large flocks, of hundreds, during the non-breeding season.
Food
Seeds especially of grasses. Occasionally insects.
Voice
A clear, bell-like 'tlit'. When feeding aslightly longer 'tleit'. Song is a series offine, clear notes, such as 'twee, tee-oo, chie-ook, chee-ing'.
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) [XC522029]
by Marc Anderson from Julatten, Mareeba Shire, Queensland, Australia (call)
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) [XC696611]
by James Lambert from Nightcliff, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call, song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mostly November - April but can be in any month.
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Nest
Bulky, oval, with side-entrance, composed of dried grasses and tendrils, interwoven, lined with finer grasses, placed in a low bush, in a tuft of tall grass or among a growth of weeds.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6; white; oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: 12 - 13 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 21 - 22 days.
Subspecies
Often hybridizes with Yellow-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura flaviprymna) in north-western Australia. In New Guinea sometimes interbreeds with Grey-headed Mannikin (Lonchura caniceps). In captivity has hybridized with 25 estrildid species, mainly other members of genus.
Proposed subspecies assimilis, described from Eureka (Northern Territory), in northern Australia, is synonymized with nominate.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
castaneothorax (Gould, 1837) - Coastal and subcoastal north-western, north-eastern and central-eastern Australia from King Sound, WA through Tiwi islands, NT and southern Torres Strait, and then to Illawara Region, south-eastern New South Wales.
ramsayi Delacour, 1943 - Coastal Papuan Peninsula, south-eastern New Guinea.
sharpi (Madarász, 1894) - Lowland northern New Guinea between eastern Geelvink Bay and Huon Gulf.
boschmai Junge, 1952 - Wissel Lake region, north-western New Guinea.
uropygialis Stresemann & Paludan, 1934 - Head of Geelvink Bay, western New Guinea.
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