Orange Minivet

The orange minivet is a brightly coloured cuckooshrike, 17–22cm long and 19–24.5g. Males are bright orange and black: the head, chin, throat and upper back are glossy black, and the lower back, rump and underparts orange-red. It can be told from other minivets by isolated red marks near the tips of the inner flight feathers. Females are largely yellow with a grey upperside and a yellow forehead and chin. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the scarlet minivet (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is gregarious and usually seen in small groups foraging along the treetops, often in mixed-species flocks, and makes bouncing flights over the forest canopy. It feeds mainly on insects, perching to scan its surroundings and then flying out and hovering to catch them. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and a resident forest bird with a moderate range, estimates a long-term decline of about 45% with a stable current trend, and rates it a Moderate conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).