Rice plants

Fields where rice plants grow are very convenient for me. Here I scavenge my food. I also like other small seeds, but because there are so many rice fields in Java and Bali, I mainly eat rice there. This is also how I got my name: rice bird!

Large groups

I like to be together with my peers. Our groups can get very large. Sometimes we are seen in hundreds. Then you might understand, that a farmer who grows rice is not happy to see us in his field. We eat a lot of his crop.

Popular house bird

We are a popular bird for people's homes. We are often kept in cages or aviaries. Especially in the 1960s and 1970s a lot of rice birds were caught in the wild. Now we are a lot rarer on Java and Bali than in the past.

Want to know more about IUCN status or the EEP? Clickhere.