CreatureData

Tricoloured munia

Lonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca) is a species in the family Estrildidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 12.6 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca)
Photo: J.M.Garg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the tricoloured munia

Weight
12.6 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the tricoloured munia live?

Not recorded

What is the tricoloured munia?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Tricoloured munia” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tricoloured_munia&oldid=1345508464), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the tricoloured munia endangered?

The tricoloured munia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the tricoloured munia classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyEstrildidae
  6. genusLonchura
  7. SpeciesLonchura malacca (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Lonchura ferruginosa bakeri, Loxia malacca, Munia malacca orientalis

Other names and names in other languages (48)
  • Black-headed muniaEnglish
  • Black-headed muniaEnglish
  • Chestnut mannikinEnglish
  • Tricolored muniaEnglish
  • Tricolored muniaEnglish
  • তিনরঙা মুনিয়াBangla
  • maniquí tricolorCatalan
  • panenka tříbarváCzech
  • manicin gwinauWelsh
  • Trefarvet NonneDanish
  • DreifarbnonneGerman
  • DreifarbennonneGerman
  • SchwarzbauchnonneGerman
  • Μαυροκέφαλος ΑσημομύτηςGreek
  • kaŝtandorsa estrildoEsperanto
  • Capuchino tricolorSpanish
  • Capuchino Tricolor de la IndiaSpanish
  • MonjitaSpanish
  • Monjita TricolorSpanish
  • ruskeamadiinEstonian
  • kastanjamanikkiFinnish
  • intiankastanjamanikkiFinnish
  • Capucin à dos marronFrench
  • Mainicín donnruaIrish
  • kestenjastoleđa amadinaCroatian
  • feketefejű szarkapintyHungarian
  • Cappuccino tricoloreItalian
  • ギンパラJapanese
  • juodapilvė munijaLithuanian
  • melngalvas smailastīteLatvian
  • ആറ്റച്ചെമ്പൻMalayalam
  • काळ्या डोक्याची मनोलीMarathi
  • DriekleurennonDutch
  • svarthodenonneNorwegian
  • Monjita Tres ColorPapiamento
  • mniszka kapturowaPolish
  • capuchinho-tricolorPortuguese
  • Bico-de-chumbo-de-cabeça-pretaPortuguese
  • Трёхцветная мунияRussian
  • Чернобрюхая мунияRussian
  • Черноголовая мунияRussian
  • mníška čiernohlaváSlovak
  • Crnotrba nonaSerbian
  • trefärgad muniaSwedish
  • Üç Renkli MunyaTurkish
  • мунія трибарвнаUkrainian
  • 栗腹文鳥Chinese
  • 黑头文鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the tricoloured munia

Other species in the same genus Lonchura.

LC, Least Concern
Dusky munia (Lonchura fuscans)

Dusky munia

Lonchura fuscans

Estrildidae

CompareTricoloured munia vs Scaly-breasted muniaTricoloured munia vs White-rumped muniaTricoloured munia vs Chestnut muniaTricoloured munia vs Chestnut-breasted mannikin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the tricoloured munia?

An adult tricoloured munia weighs 12.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the tricoloured munia endangered?

The tricoloured munia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the tricoloured munia?

The tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca) belongs to the family Estrildidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tricoloured-munia

MLA

“Tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tricoloured-munia.

BibTeX
@misc{tricoloured_munia_2026,
  title = {Tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tricoloured-munia},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}