Bar-breasted Firefinch
Lagonosticta rufopicta
A small waxbill that is matte brown above and red below with a red bill and pale undertail. There are diagnostic pale bars along the sides of the breast, but these can be difficult to see clearly. Note that sexes are similar, unlike in some other firefinches. Found in a wide variety of open habitats, including broadleaf woodland, thickets, savanna, cultivated areas, and scrub, usually in pairs or small groups. Similar to Red-billed Firefinch, but separated by the darker brown markings on the head and the bars along the sides of the breast. Further separated from other firefinches by the pale rather than black undertail. The common call is a low “chip” and the song is a rapid twittering warble.
Identification
The bar-breasted firefinch with a red head and breast and white barring or speckling on the breast. The forehead, lores and supercilium are deep red fading on the ear coverts, chin, throat and neck sides to less intensely red colour. The crown and most of the upperparts are greyish brown and rather uniform contrasting with deep red lower rump and upper tail coverts. Tail is darker brown than back with variable amounts of red near the base. Flight feathers are dark. The underparts below the crimson breast are buffy grey. Juveniles are much duller with red being confined to the rump and upper tail coverts. 11 cm in length.
Taxonomy
The bar-breasted firefinch forms a superspecies with the brown firefinch Lagnosticta nitidula, and they have been considered to be conspecific. Two subspecies are currently recognized, they are:
- Scientific name
- Lagonosticta rufopicta
- Authority
- (Fraser, 1843)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Lagonosticta
Range and habitat
The bar-breasted firefinch is found from the Gambia and southern Senegal east to western Uganda and eastern Kenya.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rusty Laughingthrush
Pterorhinus poecilorhynchus
Beautiful songbird, bright rust-orange above, gray below, with white undertail coverts and blue skin around the eye. Inhabits montane forests, from which it descends into foothills in winter. Social and noisy; gives a wide range of different whistling, hooting, and clucking noises.
Burnished-buff Tanager
Stilpnia cayana
A common tanager of savannas, forest borders, woodlands, and gardens. Often seen in pairs or with other species at fruiting trees, but usually not with mixed-species flocks. Males have a black face, throat, breast, and belly that is flanked by buffy sides. The crown and back are also buff and the wings and tail are dark-green. Females are buffy below with greenish back and wings, a pale throat, and a faint mask. The northern subspecies has a black mask (lacking the black throat and belly) with a violet gray throat and buffy belly.
Ruddy Shelduck
Tadorna ferruginea
Striking and distinctive gooselike duck. Plumage bright ruddy overall with contrasting pale creamy head and neck; male has narrow black neck ring. Big white forewing patches striking in flight. Breeds in southeastern Europe and Central Asia, winters in South Asia. Often found around saline lakes; also reservoirs and agricultural fields. Escapees from waterfowl collections occasionally seen free-flying outside of native range.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.