Jerdon's Leafbird

Jerdon's leafbird is a leafbird traditionally treated as a subspecies of the blue-winged leafbird, from which it differs in measurements and form, and it lacks the blue flight feathers that gave that species its name. The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, a black face and throat and a blue moustache line. The female has a greener head and a blue throat, and young birds are like the female without the blue throat patch. It is named after Thomas C. Jerdon (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in forest and woodland in India and Sri Lanka and eats insects, fruit and nectar. Like other leafbirds its call is a rich mixture of imitations of other birds. It is very shy of water and drinks only briefly. It builds its nest in a tree and lays two or three eggs. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and resident with a large range, estimates a long-term decline of about 39% with a stable current trend, and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).