Dictionary

munia en · NOUN

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi मुनिया (muniyā).

Meanings

1. Any of certain estrildid finches of the genera Lonchura (most instances) and Amandava (two species).
   • Munias are smaller than sparrows; they have pointed short tails, and live in flocks, building large communal nests shared by several breeding pairs. 2000, Tara Gandhi, Birds and Plant Regeneration, page 76:
   • Okanoya (2002) argues that the Bengalese finch has a much more 'complex' song than the munia. As mentioned earlier, his measure of complexity is the song linearity. He finds that the average song linearity of the munia is around 0.8 while the Bengalese finch song has a value of around 0.4. 2010, Graham R. S. Ritchie, Simon Kirby, “20: A Possible Role for Selective Masking in the Evolution of Complex, Learned Communication Systems”, in Caroline Lyon, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, Angelo Cangelosi, editors, Emergence of Communication and Language, page 398:
   • It is said, however, occasionally though rarely to eat insects, and Layard has related how an individual, kept in captivity, killed and swallowed small birds (Munias), its fellow-captives. 1895, Eugene William Oates, William Thomas Blanford, Birds, volume 3, page 88:

Forms

Deriveds

black-and-white munia · magpie munia · brown-backed munia · white-throated munia · Javan munia · bronze munia · cream-bellied munia · red munia · scaly-breasted munia · black-faced munia · grey-crowned munia · chestnut munia · white-headed munia · pale-headed munia · black-breasted munia · tricoloured munia · dusky munia · five-coloured munia · snow mountain munia · white-rumped munia · white-bellied munia · grand munia · alpine munia · black-throated munia · black munia · mottled munia · white-capped munia · streak-headed munia · New Hanover munia · grey-banded munia · Bismarck munia · green munia · New Ireland munia

Synonyms

silverbill (finch of genus Lonchura) · avadavat (finch of genus Amandava) · mannikin (finch of genus Lonchura)

Translations (3)

pl mniszka (bird of the genus Lonchura) · ru му́ния (bird of the genus Lonchura) · fi manikki (bird of the genus Lonchura)