Scaly-breasted Munia (topela)

Lonchura punctulata

Photographed at: Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 2026-04-16

Album: Cambodia (and Laos)

Family: Estrildidae

Name in Kannada: ಚುಕ್ಕೆ ಮುನಿಯ / ಚುಕ್ಕ ರಾಟವಾಳ (ಗಂಡು)

Diet: Insects, Fruit

Size: 11 - 12 cms

Other Pictures of Scaly-breasted Munia

(Female)

Munia,

This individual was one half of a pair that chose to build a nest on a tree right across our balcony. One of them, presumably the male, fetched nesting material all day while the other stitched it together to make a cosy nest. Inexplicably after all the hard work they abandoned the nest. While it lasted, though, I couldn't take my eyes off them.

Munia,This individual was one half of a pair that chose to build a nest on a tree right across our balcony. One of them, presumably the male, fetched nesting material all day while the other stitched it together to make a cosy nest. Inexplicably after all the hard work they abandoned the nest. While it lasted, though, I couldn't take my eyes off them.

(Juvenile)

Munia,