NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Black-headed Munia
Lonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Tricolour Munia
Davidvraju · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca) is an estrildid finch, native to Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and southern China. The species has also been introduced to the Caribbean, in Trinidad, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Venezuela. This species, like the chestnut munia has been known as the black-headed munia. Immature birds have pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head found in adults, and have uniform buff underparts that can be confused with immatures of other munias such as the scaly-breasted munia.
Wikipedia contributors, Tricoloured munia; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:02:19.868730+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Black-headed Munia
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Lonchura
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEstrildidae Bonaparte, 1850
- genusLonchura Sykes, 1832
- speciesLonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Lonchura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Black-faced MuniaLonchura molucca (Linnaeus, 1766) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eastern Alpine MuniaLonchura monticola (De Vis, 1897) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nutmeg MannikinLonchura punctulata (Linnaeus, 1758) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Five-colored MuniaLonchura quinticolor (Vieillot, 1807) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-rumped MuniaLonchura striata (Linnaeus, 1766) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black MuniaLonchura stygia Stresemann, 1934 | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Magpie MannikinLonchura fringilloides (Lafresnaye, 1835) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-throated MuniaLonchura kelaarti (Jerdon, 1863) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Javan MuniaLonchura leucogastroides (Moore, 1858) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great-billed MuniaLonchura grandis (Sharpe, 1882) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky MuniaLonchura fuscans (Cassin, 1852) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-breasted MuniaLonchura castaneothorax (Gould, 1837) | EstrildidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Oceania
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=179618 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3VYF4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.