Common Waxbill
Estrilda astrild
Tiny finch with short wings, a red bill, and a long tail. The body is largely gray with subtle dark bars, a prominent red mask and a dark vent. Bill is dark in juveniles. Normally encountered in noisy flocks in grassy and reedy areas; listen for distinctive descending wheezy calls. Often found in urban areas outside of its natural African range; introduced widely across the world, including the Iberian Peninsula, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and various Indian and Pacific Ocean islands.
Identification
It is a small bird, 4 to 5 inches in length with a wingspan of .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}4+1⁄2 inches and a weight of 3/5 to 3/4 ounce. It has a slender body with short rounded wings and a long graduated tail. The bright red bill of the adult is the colour of sealing wax giving the bird its name. The plumage is mostly grey-brown, finely barred with dark brown. There is a red stripe through the eye and the cheeks and throat are whitish. There is often a pinkish flush to the underparts and a reddish stripe along the centre of the belly depending on the subspecies. The rump is brown and the tail and vent are dark. Females are similar to the males but are paler with less red on the belly. Juveniles are duller with little or no red on the belly, fainter dark barring and a black bill.<p>Similar species include the black-rumped, crimson-rumped and black-lored waxbills. The black-rumped waxbill is black rather than brown on the rump and has a pale vent (area underneath the tail). The crimson-rumped waxbill has a dark bill, red rump and some red on the wings and tail. The black-lored waxbill (found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo) has a black rather than red stripe through the eye.<p>The common waxbill has a variety of twittering and buzzing calls and a distinctive high-pitched flight-call. The simple song is harsh and nasal and descends on the last note.
Taxonomy
The common waxbill was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia astrild. The etymology of astrild is uncertain. It may either be from a German or Dutch avicultural term for a waxbill or alternatively it may be a misprint for Estrilda. Linnaeus based his description on the "Wax Bill" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Linnaeus specified the locality as "Canaries, America, Africa" but this was restricted to Cape Town in South Africa by William Lutley Sclater and Cyril Mackworth-Praed in 1918. This species is now placed in the genus Estrilda that was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalist William John Swainson.<p>There are 15 recognised subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Estrilda astrild
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Estrilda
Range and habitat
There are about 17 subspecies distributed widely across much of Africa south of the Sahara. They are present in most parts of East, Central and Southern Africa except for regions of desert or dense forest. In West Africa they are more local with the main population centred on Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast. Common waxbills inhabit open country with long grass and rank vegetation. They are often found near water in marshes and among reeds. They can be tame and will enter gardens, parks and farmland.<p>Birds have often escaped from captivity or been deliberately released. Breeding populations have become established in many places where the climate is sufficiently warm and where there is a sufficient supply of grass seeds. They are now found on many islands around Africa: Saint Helena, Ascension Island, the Cape Verde Islands, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, the Seychelles and Ile Amsterdam. They may possibly be native on some of these islands. In Europe the common waxbill has become widespread in Portugal and is spreading through Spain. There are small populations on Madeira and Gran Canaria and it has recently appeared on Tenerife and the Azores. In the Americas waxbills are found in Trinidad, several parts of Brazil and there are a few on Bermuda. In the Pacific there are populations on New Caledonia, Efate Island in Vanuatu, Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands. In Spain it has been introduced in the largest cities in the last ten years and is now quite commonly seen in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, as well as along the Spanish-Portuguese border.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Squacco Heron
Ardeola ralloides
Small stout heron; favors freshwater marshes, lakes, and ponds with reeds and other surrounding vegetation. Tends to hunt rather sluggishly, hunched quietly at the edge of the water. At rest, appears buffy brown overall, but in flight transforms to mostly white when white wings and tail are revealed. Breeding adult has a rich buffy neck; nonbreeding and immature have a streaked neck.
Pale Martin
Riparia diluta
Small dull swallow, brown above and white below, with a sharp brown chest band. Nearly identical to Bank Swallow, with which it breeds sympatrically and overlaps on migration, but look for a slightly less well-defined lower border to the cheek patch and a slightly paler, more diffuse breast band. Voice also differs subtly, Pale gives primarily series of dry notes with a more trilling quality than Bank Swallow’s. Similarly picky in its nesting locales, limited only to sandy hillsides and banks, often near a water source.
Laggar Falcon
Falco jugger
A large, slender falcon with long wings that nearly reach its tail tip when perched. It has a rusty crown above a thin white brow that can connect to its pale forecrown, above a bold dark eye-stripe that extends to the nape. The moustachial stripe sometimes seems to have a break at the gape line. Upperparts mostly brown; white underparts can be streaked at the breast and solid brown at the thighs. A species of open, arid country that preys mainly on birds.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.