Red Avadavat
Amandava amandava
Strikingly pretty small finch. Males are largely red and covered in white spots with dark wings and tail. Females are gray with a rufous rump. Both sexes have a red beak. Gives a very musical song a high "teei" call. Found in grassy areas close to water and often near human habitation, particularly areas with wet rice paddies.
Identification
This small finch is easily identified by the rounded black tail and the bill that is seasonally red. The rump is red and the breeding male is red on most of the upper parts except for a black eye-stripe, lower belly and wings. There are white spots on the red body and wing feathers. The non-breeding male is duller but has the red-rump while the female is duller with less of the white spotting on the feathers.
Taxonomy
The red avadavat was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Frigilla amandava. Linnaeus based his description on "The Amaduvads Cock and Hen" that has been described and illustrated in 1738 by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin. Linnaeus specified the locality as East India but this was restricted to Kolkata (Calcutta) by E. C. Stuart Baker in 1921. This species is now placed in the genus Amandava that was introduced in 1836 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth.<p>The red avadavat were earlier included in the genus Estrilda by Jean Delacour. This placement was followed for a while but morphological, behavioural, biochemical and DNA studies now support their separation in the genus Amandava.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Amandava amandava
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Amandava
Range and habitat
Red avadavats are found mainly on flat plains, in places with tall grasses or crops, often near water. The species has four named subspecies. The nominate subspecies is called amandava and is found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan; the Burmese form is called flavidiventris (also found in parts of China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam); the population further east in Java is called punicea and in Cambodia, decouxi.<p>Introduced populations exist in several locations worldwide: southern Spain, Brunei, Fiji, Egypt, Malaysia, the United States, Bahrain, Guadeloupe, Iran, Italy, Réunion, Malaysia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Portugal, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and Hawaii.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This finch is usually seen in small flocks, flying with rapid wingbeats and descending into grass clumps where they are hard to observe. Pairs stay together during the breeding season. These birds produce a distinctive low single note pseep call that is often given in flight. The song is a series of low notes. Birds of a flock will preen each other, ruffling their head feathers in invitation. They feed mainly on grass seeds but will also take insects such as termites when they are available.<p>They build a globular nest made of grass blades. The usual clutch is about five or six white eggs.<p>The beak begins to turn red in May and darkens during November and December. The beak then turns rapidly to black in April and the cycle continues. These seasonal cycles are linked to seasonal changes in daylength.<p>Two ectoparasitic species of bird lice (an ischnoceran, Brueelia amandavae, and an amblyceran, Myrsidea amandava) have been identified living on them and a paramyxovirus has been isolated from birds kept in Japan.
Conservation
Though the current conservation status of Red avadavat is Least Concern (LC), it has become increasingly uncommon in at least part of Southeast Asia. In Thailand, they are described an uncommon to rare resident. In Cambodia, Red avadavats were already "exported by the thousands" to Vietnam in the 1920s, described as "uncommon and irregular" in the early 1960s, and populations are now considered to be low and of concern, yet significant numbers were still found in the merit release trade in 2012.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Golden-naped Woodpecker
Melanerpes chrysauchen
Medium-sized woodpecker, distinctive in its limited range. Buffy below and black above, with barred black-and-white flanks. White stripe runs down center of back. Head pattern distinctive: black mask, yellow forehead, red crown, and yellow nape. Female similar but has black, not red, on crown. Most similar to Black-cheeked Woodpecker but no range overlap; also compare Hoffmann’s and Red-crowned Woodpeckers (but note Golden-naped’s solid black wings, not barred, and black mask). Found singly or in pairs, usually in forested areas and edges.
Lowland Akalat
Sheppardia cyornithopsis
A small shy akalat found in the lower levels of tall forests, often in dark shady areas near water. Note the reddish-brown back and wings, the gray face, and the bright red-orange chest contrasting with a white belly. Almost always found in lowland forest, but a few local populations are found higher up in the foothills. Within its range, most likely to be confused with Forest Robin, but note Lowland Akalat’s plain gray face and distinctive vocalizations. Song is a series of clear, melancholy whistles given with slight pauses in between, “wheeer, gowheer,” as well as faster, more resonant and metallic series of whistles.
Pearl-breasted Swallow
Hirundo dimidiata
A martin-like swallow with a bicolored plumage pattern of steel-blue upperparts and pale underparts. Pairs or small groups flit low over grassland, scrub, farmland, and open woodland, often near water. It is a migrant to the southern parts of South Africa, but it is resident elsewhere, with some poorly understood movements. The Pearl-breasted Swallow differs from House Martin and Gray-rumped Swallow by having a dark (not pale) rump and pale (not dark) underwings.
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