Southern Red Bishop - BirdForum Opus

Male and female
Photo © by Mybs
Plattekloof Hill, near Cape Town, South Africa

Alternative name: Red Bishop

Euplectes orix

Identification

Non-breeding plumage (drinking bird on right with Chestnut Sparrow)
Photo © by volker sthamer
Burunge, Tanzania, September 2017

13-15 cm (5-6 in)
Breeding Male

• Orange to scarlet head, back and undertail coverts
• Black facial mask
• Black belly

Distribution

Found in East and South Africa in southern and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, southern Kenya, Tanzania, western and southern Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, eSwatini and Lesotho.
Introduced populations exist, e.g., in Andalucia (Spain).

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Several subspecies have been described (eg sundevalli or nigrifrons), however this species varies clinally in size.

Habitat

Open country, tall grassland, near water.

Behaviour

Breeding

Its nest is spherical and woven, and is situated in tall grass. It lays 2 - 4 eggs.

Diet

It feeds on seed, grain and some insects.

Vocalisation

Call: a thin tsip

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Southern Red Bishop. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Southern_Red_Bishop

External Links

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