Melanistic scaly-breasted munia

[Luís Lourenço]

Hi,

Here's some photos of one melanistic scaly-breasted munia.
Probably will disappear in the next moult but is still a interesting bird.





Compared with two normal birds (all my scaly breasted munias are from the subspecies Lonchura punctulata punctulata).





See more photos here and here.

[Tiaris]

Are you sure its melanistic? The darker area looks more a clean brown similar to the head of a normal, just over a greater area. Melanistic birds I've seen are usually a dirty uneven black colour whereas that bird looks a very neat brown.

[finches247]

Beautiful Colouring

Lonchura punctulata punctulata is the nominate form not a subspecie

[Luís Lourenço]

I think it's melanistic judging for the dark colour in the belly and overall it's darker than the others, including the siblings.

Lonchura punctulata punctulata is the nominate form not a subspecie

To be correct, Lonchura punctulata punctulata is the nominate subspecies

[Craig52]

Are you sure its melanistic? The darker area looks more a clean brown similar to the head of a normal, just over a greater area. Melanistic birds I've seen are usually a dirty uneven black colour whereas that bird looks a very neat brown.

I tend to agree with Tiaris,to me it looks like a chocolate form,similar to our chocolate parsons. Craig

[SamDavis]

Even the bottom 2 photos look heaps darker all over to me compared with spice finches around here.

Looks like the scalloped underside feathers have their colours reversed much like a spangle budgie? It has dark brown outlined with light rather than the normal bird's light edged with dark brown.
And the beak looks to be silver, or is it just the light?

[Tiaris]

The bottom 2 normals look quite different to each other too. Of these the top one resembles the same brown as shown on the "melanistic" bird only les extensive. The bottom one more closely resembles the Spice Finches seen in Australia.

[desertbirds]

I think its a mutation rather than a melanistic bird. The feathers down the front are almost a reverse of the normal bird. Chocolate with a spot of white as opposed to white with a chocolate border. Nice pics Luis.

[Tiaris]

I tend to agree DB, either a mutation or the genes from another lonchura species in there somehow.

[Luís Lourenço]

The parents of the bird are normal according to the breeder, the siblings are normal (the normal bird on top are half-sibling), one have a bit more black on the belly but isn't nothing compared to this.
Overall they are bit darker then the ones I have but it's because mine have contact with direct sunlight and the breeder that sold me this birds doesn't have, or at least not enough sunlight. But they all fit in the variations of plumage of the (sub)species, except the belly of the "melanistic".
The beak isn't silver, was the light.
If isn't a true melanistic bird, possible is some kind of mutation.