Common Iora

The common iora is a small songbird with a pointed, notched bill. The sexes differ: breeding males have a black cap and back as well as black wings and tail at all seasons, with two bold white wing bars, while females have greenish wings and an olive tail. Both are yellow below. The amount of black on breeding males varies greatly between populations, which has led to many subspecies being named, and some can be confused with Marshall's iora, which always has white tail tips (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in scrub and forest and is easily found by its loud whistles and bright colours. It forages in small groups in trees, gleaning insects from the branches, and sometimes joins mixed feeding flocks. Its calls are a mix of churrs, chatters and whistles, and its song a trilled wheeeee-tee; it sometimes imitates other birds. In the breeding season the male fluffs its feathers and spirals in the air like a green, black, yellow and white ball. In India it is resident across a very large range; SoIB 2023 finds a current increase of about 4% a year and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).