Nutmeg Mannikin is one of several exotic bird species establishing breeding colonies along Upper Coastal Texas. This Southeast Asian finch is among other non-native birds including the Egyptian Goose, Orange Bishop, and Monk Parakeet, all seen and photographed in Quail Valley.
This sparrow-sized finch prefers grassy, weedy areas near water and comes to seed feeders.
In 2013 the Nutmeg Mannikin was recognized by the American Birding Association as an established exotic species in California. This is not a trivial process and requires several years and much documentation and photographs of actual breeding colonies. If you are interested, press here to learn the guidelines for this process, which is just a manner of time in Upper Coastal Texas.
The immature Nutmeg Mannikin lack the distintive breast pattern, but otherwise resemble the matures.
If you are interested in making your home garden more attractive to birds, Photographer Margaret Sloan will be at the Quail Valley Backyard Tour, Saturday, April 26 at the 2910 Nancy Bell nature garden from 10 to 4. Press here for more information.
Photos copyrighted by Quail Valley resident and international birder Margaret Sloan. View her international and national bird pictures by pressing this link.
See a bird you don't recognize in Fort Bend? Margaret has photographed 150+ bird species just in her suburban Fort Bend,Texas backyard alone. Narrow your initial search by viewing her full photo album of local birds, Birds of Quail Valley by pressing this link. They are organized by types of birds, so if it's a water bird for example, you may find one that helps you narrow your search. Then if you "google in" the name of the bird, you'll get info and all kinds of information and images. Sometimes if a species is remarkably different from adult you may find nothing, contact us and we'll do our best to help.
Researched and posted by Janice Scanlan. Click photos to enlarge them.
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