Cuckooshrike, Minivets

Black-headed Cuckooshrike

Male: grey plumage; black head, wings, tail, the latter white-tipped, except on middle feathers; pale grey below breast, whiter on abdomen, vent. Female: brown plumage; whitish-buff below barred dark-brown till abdomen; lacks black head. Solitary or in pairs, only occasionally several together; often part of mixed-hunting bands; keep for most part to leafy, upper branches, probes the foliage for insects; methodically checks foliage before flying off.

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Scarlet Minivet

Male: glistening black head and upper back; deep scarlet lower back and rump; black and scarlet wings and tail; black throat, scarlet below. Female: rich yellow forehead, supercilium; grey-yellow above; yellow and black wings and tail; bright yellow underbody. Pairs or small parties; sometimes several dozen together; keeps to canopy of tall trees; actively flits about to hunt for insects; also launches aerial sallies after winged insects; often seen in mixed hunting parties of birds; spectacular sight of black, scarlet and yellow as flock flies over forest, especially when seen from above.

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Small Minivet

Male: dark grey head, back and throat; orange-yellow patch on black wings; black tail; flame-orange breast; orange-yellow belly and undertail. Female: paler above; orange rump; dusky white throat, breast tinged with yellow; yellowish belly and under tail. Pairs or small flocks; keep to tree-tops, actively moving amidst foliage; flutters and flits about in an untiring hunts for small insects, often in association with other small birds; also hunt flycatcher style.

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Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Smaller, darker cuckooshrike; adult male has dark grey head, mantle, breast; black wings; paler grey belly, vent; tail feathers tipped white, giving impression of large white spots; darkest of the cukooshrikes; female paler grey; faint barring on undersides; sometimes has white ring above and below eye; racial variations; singly, or in pairs; gregarious; often joins other insectivores in bird waves; arboreal; actively hunts for insects in foliage of upper forest storeys, occasionally in undergrowth.

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