Black-throated Munia

The black-throated munia, or Jerdon's mannikin, is a small, gregarious finch resident in the hills of southwest India, the Western and Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka, feeding mainly on seeds in open hill woodland and cultivation. It is 12 cm long with a long black tail, dark brown upperparts with pale shaft streaks and a blackish face and bib. The nominate Sri Lankan form has scaly patterning on the underparts and vent (Wikipedia, general species account).

The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or creepers on a house, holding 3 to 8 white eggs in India and usually five in Sri Lanka. The name commemorates the zoologist Edward Frederick Kelaart. Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).