Tailorbird

Tailorbird (tuntuni) is a very familiar bird of Bangladesh. It is a tiny insect eater and is of olive green to yellowish green in colour. Because of differential habit and physical structure three distinct categories are recognized. They are dark necked tailorbird, mountain tailorbird and common tailorbird.

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  Dark necked Tailorbird

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  Mountain Tailorbird

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  Common Tailorbird

Dark necked tailorbird' is a tiny olive green passerine with a cocked tail. It looks olive green from above, yellower on the bend of the wing and with a rufous crown. It inhabits dense scrub on the edges and interior of broadleaved evergreen forests and bamboo thickets. It is an active diurnal bird. It feeds mainly on small insects and larvae. It breeds in May-June. It nests in the foliage very near the ground. It uses grass or rootlets to do the sewing and down feathers for the lining. It is a rare resident of Bangladesh. It occurs mainly in the evergreen forests of Chittagong and Sylhet division.

Mountain tailorbird' is a tiny yellow and green passerine with a rufous orange crown. It has a short white yellowish supercilium behind the eye and a dark eye stripe. Its most distinctive feature is the bright yellowish belly. It is an energetic diurnal bird. It inhabits undergrowth in evergreen forests with mixed bushes and bamboos. It hunts tiny insects in the thickets and often flies into the air after the insects. It breeds in May-July. It nests in bushes a meter or more above the ground. It is a rare resident of Bangladesh. It occurs mainly in the evergreen forests of Chittagong division.

Common tailorbird' is a tiny green passerine with a long upright tail. The breeding mail has elongated central tail feathers. It inhabits edges of forests, scrub, orchards and gardens in lowlands and hills upto 1800 m. It is a restless bird. It feeds on tiny insects and larvae. It breeds in May-July. It nests in broad-leaved bushes and trees of gardens and forests. The nest is a cone made by sewing together the edges of one or two drooping leaves. It is a common resident of Bangladesh. It occurs mainly in the villages, bushes and open forests of all division. [Sanzida Murshed]