The scarlet minivet male has black upperparts and head and scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump and wing patches. The female is gray above with yellow underparts, including the face, tail edges, rump and wing patches. There are as many as 19 subspecies with great geographic variation. In males the scarlet can be a variation, including orange and yellow. It looks like I saw either Pericrocotus speciosus fraterculus which is found in northeast India and extending into Myanmar, Yunnan and Hainan, or P. s. speciosus, which is found along the Himalayas.
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| An illustration of a male from Birds of the World. |
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| A male I saw near Diphlu Lodge near Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. |
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| An illustration of a female from Birds of the World. |
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| A female I saw on the main road while driving to the far wester Burapahar Range of Kazirange NP. |
So not fair that the male is so much more spectacular than the female, although she is pretty. I guess beauty is relative.
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