No black hood yet

An adult Chestnut Munia with black head (at left) and a junvenile bird at right
Zone F

Juvenile are all over earthy-brown.
The head remain tinged brown'

 I have been watching for a couple of days now at a flock of Chestnut Munia ( Lochura malacca).  What excites me is the presence of young birds that are part of the flock and producing the most happy of sounds.  In Malay the bird is called 'Pipit Rawa' and characteristically utters the 'pit, pit' call.   I have read that the young birds are earthy-brown all over and later change colour to something like the adult plumage, specifically the head still remain a tinged brown.  After the third change of plumage will the bird exhibit the chestnut plumage and the black head.

A young bird perching on the oil palm leaf
Zone F

Little brown black darling

Chestnut Munia or "Pipit Rawa" - Malay
Zone C

 She comes to town in chocolaty dress with a dark face, like she is wearing a black 'hijab'.  Often she is seen in a small party foraging for seeds especially grass seeds. She and friends would cling to the long grasses and normally inch towards the end of the grass stems to get close to the seeds.  In so doing they gently bend the grass stems and skid towards the end of the stems  in playful acrobatic style.   Her skinny feet and steady legs are grey. What is striking about her when compared to her cousins is her silvery grey beak.  Today she is busy collecting all sorts of dried grasses and other plant materials to make a nest.  The nest called home is deep in the middle of the bamboo clump.

Having an interlude in between nest making at the bamboo clump