mesia

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Silver-eared mesia (Leiothrix argentauris)

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mesia

bird

Also known as: Leiothrix argentauris, silver-ear, silver-eared mesia

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Also called:: Silver-eared Mesia, or Silver-ear

Related Topics:: Leiothrix

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mesia, (species Leiothrix argentauris), songbird of the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). It is found from Pakistan through the Indochinese peninsula in scrub and secondary jungle. This 15-centimetre- (6-inch-) long bird is olive above and yellow below, with a black crown, silver ear patches, and some crimson on the tail. In groups of 6 to 30 it travels about the forest bushes and canopy seeking berries and peering under leaves for insects. Four eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest. The mesia has a sweet, whistling song and is sometimes kept as a cage bird.