Skip to main content

Javan munia (Lonchura leucogastroides)

Bondol jawa or emprit jawa or pipit jawa or Javan munia (Lonchura leucogastroides) is a species of estrildid finch or Estrildidae, rice and grain eaters. These small birds with beaks from the tip to the tail of about 11 cm are often found in rural and urban environments near rice fields and making nests on tree branches.

L. leucogastroides has a back, wings and upper sides dark brown without scribbling. The upper face, neck and chest are black, while the lower chest, abdomen and sides of the body are pure white which appears to contrast with the brownish, lower tail and brown eye iris.

Dlium Javan munia (Lonchura leucogastroides)

Young Javan munia has a yellowish brown chest and abdomen. The beak is black at the top and bluish gray at the bottom, while the legs are grayish. Birds often descends to the ground or swings on the flower stalks of grass and visit rice fields, grasslands, vegetated open fields and gardens to eat rice and various seeds.

Bondol jawa generally live in pairs or in small groups and mix with other Lonchura species including bondol peking (Lonchura punctulata). The group initially consisted of only a few birds, but in the rice harvest this group grew to hundreds. Large groups are considered as pests and are very detrimental to rice farmers.



Pipit jawa often nest in home yards and lush trees at an altitude of 2 - 10 meters above the ground. Looks striking in the afternoon when flying and alighting together in a tree as a bed. Spherical nests are built in layers of grass leaves and flowers, placed hidden between leaves and twigs or in the palm leaf gap.

Emprit jawa breed throughout the year where each time they lay 4-5 white eggs and measure around 14 x 10 mm. This bird sings smoothly, cri-ii, cri-i ... or ci-ii ... and pit ... pit ... But in groups, especially when perched together, these sounds become noise. Likewise the sound of newly hatched chicks.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Lonchura
Species: L. leucogastroides

Popular Posts

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Tekijem (Cyperus cyperoides)

Tekijem ( Cyperus cyperoides ) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, annual grasses that grow in seasonal wetlands, open or shaded fields, swamps, ponds, rice fields, roadsides, open forests, secondary forests and shrubs at altitudes up to 1,800 m in the tropics. C. cyperoides has an upright, triangular shape, 20-75 cm tall from a very short rhizome and has no stolon. The lanceolate-shaped leaves are narrow and long, the tips are pointed, slippery, shiny, green and grow at the bottom and at the top of the stem. The terminal flower appears on the tip of the stem, cylindrical spiklet shaped and green. Each stem has two to seven flowers, each of which has a short or long stem that grows at the end of the stem together with the leaves. Tekijem grows solitary or in small groups at a distance. Propagating using vegetative and generative methods using seeds. At least three sub-species are Cyperus cyperoides cyperoides , Cyperus cyperoides flavus and Cyperus cyperoides pseudoflavus . Th...