Actinodura cyanouroptera
The Blue-winged Minla, *Actinodura cyanouroptera*, is a striking and active passerine bird belonging to the family Leiothrichidae, commonly known as the babblers. Measuring approximately 15-18 cm (6-7 inches) in length and weighing 16-29 grams, its most distinctive feature is its vibrant blue wings and tail, adorned with fine black barring, sharply contrasting with a warm rufous-chestnut cap and heavily streaked olive-brown upperparts and flanks. Its underparts are generally paler, often buff...
Found primarily in subtropical and tropical moist montane forests, this species inhabits dense undergrowth, bamboo thickets, and forest edges at elevations ranging from 600 to 3000 meters.
Mainly insectivorous, feeding on beetles, caterpillars, ants, and other arthropods, but also consumes small berries, fruits, and occasionally nectar, foraging by gleaning from foliage and probing bark.
The Blue-winged Minla is a highly active and social diurnal bird, rarely seen alone and often forming the core or a prominent member of mixed-species foraging flocks. It gleans insects and other arthropods from foliage, bark, and moss, meticulously searching for prey within the middle and lower s...
The Blue-winged Minla boasts a wide distribution across Southeast Asia, extending from the Himalayan foothills eastward. Its breeding range encompasses eastern Nepal, Bhutan, Northeast India (including Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland), and Bangladesh, stretching through Myanmar, Thailand, Lao...
Least Concern
- The Blue-winged Minla underwent a significant taxonomic revision, moving from the genus *Minla* to *Actinodura*, reflecting its true evolutionary relationships within the babbler family. - It is often considered a "leader" or a key component species within the bustling mixed-species foraging fl...