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Fiery Minivet

One of the few birds species that has the females looking better, in my opinion than the male. I love minivets for their brilliant colors. The red and black hue of the male bird reminds me of my high school colors and was an immediate eye-catcher for us when we first started birding in Maxwell's Hills.

These fiery minivets were however filmed in Sepilok on the canopy walk of RDC. The minivets are common canopy dwellers and so being at a height above ground helps if you want catch this bird on memory.

A common resident of lowland forest of North Borneo as well as coastal forest of Kalimantan, the fiery minivet has an overlapping range with the Scarlet Minivet. But the Fiery female's distinguishing orange-yellow rump against the green rump on the Scarlet and the species' overall smaller size helps us differentiate the two. The other differentiating marking on the Fiery Minivet is the single barring on their primaries while the Scarlet has two. You've got to look really carefully and keep a steady hand to see that - IS IT ONE of TWO?!!?