Birds of Thailand

RED AVADAVAT Amandava amandava 10cm An old name for this species, Strawberry Finch, is quite descriptive. The male is bright red, blacker on wings and tail, with white spots on the wings and underparts. Females, non-breeding males and young birds lack most of the red, but still have red bills. This species likes open grassy places and scrub, mainly in the lowlands, where small flocks may be found feeding in the tall grass. Easy to overlook! Uncommon resident in the central plains and the extreme north.

SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA Lonchura punctulata 11cm This species often occurs in huge flocks in seeding bamboo and on rice paddies. It is plain brown above, often with somewhat paler uppertail-coverts; it has a brown throat, and distinctive scaly markings on the breast and flanks, with belly and undertail-coverts creamy-white. Juveniles lack the scaly markings, and have the throat and entire underparts buffish. Found in paddyfields and other cultivated land, also scrub, up to 1500m. Very common resident throughout the country except in parts of the peninsula.

CHESTNUT MUNIA Lonchura atricapilla 11cm A small, rich chestnut bird with a black head and breast. The bill is blue-grey and, because of its colour, looks extremely heavy. Juveniles are a richer reddish- brown than juveniles of other munia species, and also have the same blue-grey bill as the adults. Found in grasslands, lowland marshes and scrub, paddyfields and coastal areas. An uncommon resident, found in several well-separated areas throughout the country, but absent from the north-east.

Photographic Acknowledgements All the photographs in this book were taken by Chew Yen Fook with the exception of the following: David Bakewell (78 bottom); Lauri Maenpaa (98 bottom); Ken Scriven (68 bottom); Morten Strange (34 top, 55 bottom, 75 top); Ray Tipper (14 top, 21 bottom, 37 bottom, 38 top, 41 top, 43 top, 62 bottom, 77 top & bottom, 78 top, 86 top, 108 top, 109 top & bottom, 111 top, 119 top, 125 top); Bob Watts (63 bottom, 90 top); Windrush Photos: Goran Ekström (66 top) and David Tipling (36 top, 75 bottom). Author’s Acknowledgements Michael Webster would like to thank Phil Round and Kamol Kamolphalin for their help and support throughout the project.

Bloomsbury Natural History An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York NY 10018 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.com This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published by New Holland UK Ltd, 1998 as A Photographic Guide to Birds of Thailand This edition first published by Bloomsbury, 2016 © Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016 © text Michael Webster and Chew Yen Fook 2016 This electronic edition published 2016 Michael Webster and Chew Yen Fook have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work. All rights reserved You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for. ISBN: 978-1-4729-3792-6 (PB) ISBN: 978-1-4729-3793-3 (eBook) ISBN: 978-1-4729-3795-7 (ePDF) To find out more about our authors and their books please visit www.bloomsbury.com where you will find extracts, author interviews and details of forthcoming events, and to be the first to hear about latest releases and special offers, sign up for our newsletters.