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).
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) [XC594267]
by Sue Riffe from Jiji Township, Taiwan (call)
Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) [XC591616]
by Sunny Tseng from Jiji Township, Taiwan (call)
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.
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