img
Birds

Asian
Fairy-bluebird

Least Concern

Decreasing

Asian Fairy-bluebird

Irena puella

The Asian Fairy-bluebird is a medium-sized, found in forests across tropical southern Asia from the Himalayan foothills, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The iris is crimson and eyelids pinkish; the bill, legs and claws are black, and mouth a flesh- colour. Marked sexual dimorphism is evident. The male is a shining ultramarine-blue with lilac reflections on its upper plumage, lesser wing coverts, and under tail coverts, while the sides of its head and the whole lower plumage are deep black; greater wing-coverts, quills, and tail black, and some of the coverts tipped with blue, and the middle tail-feathers glossed with blue.

The Asian fairy bluebird eats fruits, nectar and some insects. Its call is a liquid two note glue-it. It breeds from February to April, constructing a shallow cup-shaped nest, sometimes of moss and sometimes of small twigs, in a sapling or small tree. The eggs, which are generally two in number, are greenish white marked with brown.

-

Regional Names
  • Bengali:
    এশীয় নীলপরী
  • Hindi:
    ललिता
  • Malayalam:
    ഇലക്കിളി
  • Marathi:
    नीलपरी, ललिता
Media Gallery
Taxanomy

PASSERIFORMES
IRENIDAE
Irena puella

ADVERTISEMENT