Red-billed Firefinch - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by d.flack
Kotu Beach, Gambia, November 2016

Lagonosticta senegala

Identification

Male and Female
Photo © by volker sthamer
Addis Ababa. Ethiopia, November, 2009

9-10cm (3½-4 in).
Adult male

• Scarlet head, neck, breast and belly
• Brownish wings and vent area
• Scarlet rump and upper tail
• Tip of tail black
• Reddish-pink Bill
• Yellow eyering

Distribution

Photo © by keith mitchell
Gambia, 2007

Sub-Saharan Africa :
Northern Africa: occurs only in Algeria
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini
African Islands: Cape Verde

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Female, Subspecies rendalli
Photo © by charelli
Botswana, May 2018

Lagonosticta senegala has six subspecies:^[1]

• L. s. senegala

• Cape Verde Islands; Senegal and Mali to Nigeria

• L. s. rhodopsis

• Eastern Mali to western Sudan, northern and western South Sudan, Eritrea, and western Ethiopia

• L. s. ruberrima

• Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, north-eastern Zambia, DRC and north-eastern Angola

• L. s. brunneiceps

• Southeastern South Sudan, and central Ethiopia

• L. s. somaliensis

• South-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia

• L. s. rendalli

• Southern Angola to southern Tanzania, and central and eastern South Africa

Habitat

Grassland with acacia thornbush, thickets and cultivated areas.

Behaviour

They can often be found with other species such as the Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu.

Diet

Diet consists mostly of small grass seeds and grain.

Breeding

They construct a dome-shaped nest of grass, which is usually placed in a bush. The clutch consists of 3-6 white eggs. The Village Indigobird is a brood parasite.

Vocalisation

Song: a rising chick-pea-pea-pea.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-billed Firefinch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-billed_Firefinch

External Links

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