Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines (B), Singapore (B), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Subspecies
Subspecies speciosus sometimes regarded as a separate species, on basis of its deep scarlet colour. If such treatment adopted, fraterculus, andamanensis and semiruber could perhaps be included as subspecies of it. Subspecies nigroluteus originally named neglectus, but latter name invalid, because preoccupied. Birds on Bohol (Philippines) of unconfirmed racial identity, presumed to belong with leytensis. Populations now placed in subspecies fraterculus were previously listed as subspecies elegans; however, type locality of elegans (Sadiya, in north-eastern Assam) subsequently reckoned to fall within range of speciosus, making these two synonyms, and leaving fraterculus as the name for populations from southern Assam to Hainan.
Proposed subspecies suchitrae (western and south-western Myanmar east to central and southern Indochina) considered indistinguishable from semiruber.
The following 19 subspecies are recognised:
speciosus (Forster, 1781) - Himalayas from Jammu and Kashmir east to southern China (south-eastern Xizang).
fraterculus Swinhoe, 1870 - North-eastern India (hills of Assam south of R Brahmaputra), northern Myanmar, southern China (Yunnan, Hainan I) and northern Indochina.
flammeus (J. R. Forster, 1781) - Western and southern India and Sri Lanka.
semiruber Whistler and Kinnear, 1933 - East-central India, southern Myanmar and Thailand (except central and south) east to central and southern Indochina.
andamanensis Beavan, 1867 - Andaman Is.
fohkiensis Buturlin, 1910 - South-eastern China (Guizhou east to Fujian, south to Guangxi and Guangdong).
flammifer Hume, 1875 - South-eastern Myanmar, south-western and southern Thailand and northern and eastern Peninsular Malaysia.
xanthogaster (Raffles, 1822) - Western and southern Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra (including eastern coast islands).
minythomelas Oberholser, 1912 - Simeulue I, off north-western Sumatra.
modiglianii Salvadori, 1892 - Enggano I, off south-western Sumatra.
insulanus Deignan, 1946 - Borneo.
siebersi Rensch, 1928 - Java and Bali.
exul Wallace, 1864 - Lombok (east of Bali).
novus McGregor, 1904 - Northern and central Philippines (Luzon, Negros).
johnstoniae Ogilvie-Grant, 1905 - Mt Apo, in south-eastern Mindanao.
marchesae Guillemard, 1885 - Sulu Archipelago (Jolo).
Similar Species
White-bellied Minivet (Pericrocotus erythropygius), the male of which has a dark grey throat, the female lacks yellow on the forehead, ear-coverts and throat. Wing patterns also also different. Fiery Minivet (Pericrocotus igneus) which has an orange tinge to the plumage, a single wing patch and is smaller.
References
See References.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet