Voice
Call: a weak, reedy 'pee pee..', often uttered in flight. Song: a very quiet series of bill-snapping notes followed by silent singing (no audible notes), ending with faint drawn-out whistled notes.
Subspecies
Lonchura malacca (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Black-headed Munia (Lonchura malacca) and Chestnut Munia (Lonchura atricapilla) following AOU (2000).
May form a superspecies with Chestnut Munia (Lonchura atricapilla) and White-capped Munia (Lonchura ferruginosa), and sometimes considered conspecific with former or with both.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
rubronigra (Hodgson, 1836) - Foothills of northern India and Nepal terai. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Chestnut Munia (Lonchura atricapilla).
malacca (Linnaeus, 1766) - Southern India, Sri Lanka.
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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
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