Locustfinch
Paludipasser locustella
Unusual small, dark waxbill. Males are black with an orange hood, and females dark gray above and pale below with heavy barring. Both sexes show a mostly orange wing and rump, which are conspicuous in flight. Uncommon in moist grassland. Inconspicuous, and usually not seen until flushed, when they give a repeated “teeu” call. Similar in shape and behavior to Quailfinch, but easily separated by the orange wing.
Identification
The locust finch is similar to the quailfinch but males have a red face, throat and breast with rufous wings and black body with white spots but with a plain back belly. The females also have rufous wings and lack the white face markings of female quailfinches while immatures have black and brown streaks on the upperparts and browner underparts than females. This species has a body which is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) in length.
Taxonomy
The locust finch was first formally described in 1909 by the English naturalist and entomologist Sheffield Airey Neave with the type, a subadl male, being collected at the Upper Luansenshi River, north-east of Bangweolo, Northern Rhodesia, i.e. Zambia. Neave placed in the monotypic genus Paludipasser within the waxbill family Estrildidae but it has been placed in the same genus as the quailfinch, Ortygospiza.
- Scientific name
- Paludipasser locustella
- Authority
- Neave, 1909
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Paludipasser
Range and habitat
The locust finch has been recorded in south-east Cameroon, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo south through Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. In Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique this is a rather rare species. There are unconfirmed reports of at least two pairs breeding on the Jos Plateau of northern Nigeria, this would be a very significant range extension for this species. The preferred habitat is damp, thinly vegetated patches within grasslands close to water in sandy spoild areas, like sandveld.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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