Blue –winged Siva  Siva Cyanouroptera

Etymology:

•  Siva : Named after Hindu god Lord Shiva
• Cyanouroptera: Greek word kuanos dark-blue; ouros –tailed ; pteros -winged

Vernacular Names :  Lepcha: Megblim adum

They are also called as Blue-winged Minla

Distribution in India: Resident in Himalayas and North East of India.

Description:  Size of 14–15·5 cm; wt. of 14–28 g. It is a small, slim, pale brownish babbler with
longish tail, most races with bluish-black crown streaks and blue wing edges and tail. The nominate
male has soft pale grey from crown to upper mantle; crown has long parallel blue-fringed blackish
streaks. The lower mantle, back, greater upperwing-coverts and scapulars to rump are creamy buff-
brown, primary coverts are black with cobalt-blue fringes, edges of primaries cobalt-blue, tertials
black with narrow white tips, tail black with narrow white fringe-tips and cobalt-blue edges. The face
is pale whitish-grey, throat and underparts are pale pinkish-grey with whiter belly and vent, lower
flanks are tinged buff; iris is grey, greyish-brown, or dark hazel to whitish or yellowish-grey; bill is
yellowish-flesh to chrome-yellow, culmen is brownish to dark horn; legs are brownish to greyish-
olive or fleshy white. The female is very similar to male, but has slightly less blue crown and paler
mantle. The juvenile has browner, less streaked crown than adult. Race aglae has slightly heavier-
streaked crown than nominate.

Habitat: It is found in open broadleaf evergreen, pine and mixed forests, forest edge, secondary
growth, bamboo, cultivation near forest. It is found from 250 m – 3000 M.

Food Habits:  It eats Insects, berries and seeds. It is found in small parties outside breeding season,
and a frequent and conspicuous component of bird waves, which may include other babblers, such
as minlas, cutias and sibias. It forages in canopy, as well as in denser middle-storey growth, bushes
and saplings, particularly along forest edge. It also comes closer to ground, especially when seeking
certain fruits

Breeding Habits:  They breed in Mar–Aug. They do co-operative nest-building, involving three birds.
The nest is a small cup, made of bamboo or other leaves, grass, rootlets, moss, tendrils and creeper
stems. The exterior is plastered with moss, cobweb and wool, lined with rootlets, fine grasses and
sometimes hair, placed above the ground in bush or stream bank They lay a clutch of 2–5 eggs. The
incubation period is 14 days. The nestling period is 16 days.