White-rumped Munia

1 White-rumped Munia Breed Overview

In old times, street fortune-tellers often carried caged birds that would pick out prophecy slips, calling them ‘magic sparrows’ to deceive people. That ‘magic sparrow’ was the White-rumped Munia, a seed-eating bird that feeds on grain and other plant seeds. Its song is like a xiao flute, short and slightly trembling, not very musical. But it is bold and unafraid of people, so it is often kept as a cage bird; after taming, it returns even when the cage door is opened. Fortune-tellers taught it to pick cards for divination to cheat people, though the bird is actually dull and clumsy. Someone once saw four White-rumped Munias on one branch; a hunter shot down three, but the remaining one stayed put-such a foolish bird, yet called a ‘magic sparrow’ to tell fortunes, which is quite unexpected.

Chinese name: White-rumped Munia

Latin name: Lonchura striata

Other names: White Beauty Bird, Grain Bird, Ten Sisters, Fortune-telling Bird, Bead-carrying Bird, Guanyin Bird

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Estrildidae

Genus: Lonchura

Species: White-rumped Munia

Subspecies: 6 subspecies

Named by and year: Linnaeus, 1766

English name: White-rumped Munia

2 Physical Characteristics of the White-rumped Munia

The White-rumped Munia averages about 12.3 g and is only about 11 cm long, mostly brown with a white rump. The bill is triangular-conical, thick and pointed, the upper mandible black and the lower gray. There is a broad white band across the rump, and the tail is long and pointed, giving a ‘jiu-jiu’ call. Males and females are similar. The forehead, front crown, lores, eye ring, cheeks, and bill base are blackish-brown; the rear crown to back and shoulders are dark sandy or gray-brown with white or buff shaft stripes. The rump is white; the upper tail coverts are chestnut with buff shaft stripes and red-brown tips. The tail is black, pointed, wedge-shaped. The wings are blackish-brown; the coverts and tertials are like the back but darker with buff shaft stripes. The ear coverts and neck sides are pale or red-brown with fine white streaks or spots. The chin and throat are blackish-brown; the upper chest is chestnut with pale yellow shaft stripes and tan edges; the lower chest, belly, and flanks are white or gray-white with faint tan U-shaped or scale-like marks; the vent, under-tail coverts, and thigh feathers are chestnut with buff fine streaks or spots.

The juvenile has a pale or gray-brown upper body with white or buff shaft stripes, a gray-white rump, and pale yellow-brown upper tail coverts with brown arc marks and near-white shaft stripes. The chin and throat are pale gray-brown or gray with light brown arc marks; the chest, under-tail coverts, and thigh feathers are pale yellow-brown with alternating light and gray-brown arc marks; the belly and flanks are gray-brown tinged yellow; otherwise like the adult.

3 White-rumped Munia Care Tips

The White-rumped Munia is noisy and lives in small flocks, like other munias. It is gentle and easy to bond with, good for training as a hand bird. It is also strongly nest-attached; even a newly caught wild adult becomes dependent on the nest after caging and will not fly far even with the door open, often returning to eat and play. It is common in plains and foothills, rare in high mountains, most common in village trees and rice fields, and also seen by streams, ponds, bamboo, conifers, or tall grass. It often moves in family groups of ten or more and nests together, hence the name Ten Sisters. Wild birds eat mainly plant seeds, especially rice, and some insects and unripe ears in summer. They lay from April to October, nesting in bamboo, shrubs, and taller trees; the nest is a flask shape made of bamboo leaves, pine needles, and dry grass with a side neck-like entrance. Each clutch has 4-7 pure white eggs, incubated alternately by both parents; incubation 14 days, fledging about 22 days.

The White-rumped Munia has a very hot temper. If two incompatible birds live together, the quarreling never stops and may even turn to fighting to the death. So learn each bird’s personality early and keep them in separate cages.

4 White-rumped Munia Living Environment Requirements

The White-rumped Munia lives below 1500 m in low hills, foothills, and plains, especially near streams, reed ponds, farmland, and villages, and in low-elevation forest edges, secondary shrub, farmland, and gardens up to 1600 m; it rarely enters middle-high mountains or dense forest. The cage depends on purpose: a canary, siskin, or chickadee show cage works for display, with a gourd-shaped grass nest or small gourd hung near the top away from the door for sleeping. For pairs or groups to breed, use a darker breeding cage, shielding the nesting part with cardboard or cloth and using a gourd nest or dark nest box. Simple boxes can be made from fruit crates. The munia loves bathing, so place a bath dish in the cage and fill it with clean water after 9 a.m. daily; it will bathe itself. It is the easiest cage bird to keep and breed.

Because it is robust and strongly broody, the White-rumped Munia is often used to hatch other estrildid cage birds, hence the name ‘foster bird.’ In keeping, as long as there is food and water and no sudden heat or cold, the bird lives normally. Its feed is mainly rice, millet, and barnyard grass mixed; during laying and rearing add egg-fortified rice and greens, with some shell powder and bone meal.

5 White-rumped Munia Feeding Guidelines

The White-rumped Munia likes hulled seeds: rice, millet, barnyard grass, hemp seed, etc. Usually mix rice (or millet), barnyard grass, and millet in a 6:3:1 ratio. Also feed washed greens such as rape and cabbage, disinfected by soaking 10 minutes in 1/1000 potassium permanganate and draining before feeding. Shell powder and cuttlebone are also essential supplements. In hot summer, the focus is heat relief; parasites breed fastest then, so treat promptly. In autumn place the cage in sunlight, hang the nest box, and pad with bedding; on cloudy days use an incandescent light to stimulate breeding. In cold winter with wind and snow, keep the shelter warm; respiratory disease is common then, mainly from poor ventilation, so warmth alone is not enough-ventilate too.

The White-rumped Munia’s breeding season in China is long. In Chengdu it starts nesting in mid-March; in Guizhou nests with eggs were found in April and September; in Guangdong breeding ends only in late October; in Fuzhou it runs from February to November, possibly 2-3 or even 4 clutches a year. Nests are built by fields, villages, hillsides, streams, and in gardens, in trees, bamboo, or shrubs.