Fawn-breasted Waxbill
Estrilda paludicola
Small, pretty waxbill of lush habitats. Note the red bill, black tail, olive-brown back, and red rump, which is conspicuous in flight. The face and crown show considerable geographical variation, varying from all-gray to all-olive to gray with an olive crown. The underparts can be dull white or yellow. Found primarily at middle elevations in a variety of lush habitats, including grassland, moist scrub, cultivation, woodland, and forest clearings. The call is short, high-pitched, and nasal, often given in flight. Distinguished from Common and Black-rumped Waxbills by the red rump.
Taxonomy
The fawn-breasted waxbill was formally described in 1863 by the German explorer and ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin from a specimen collected on the middle course of the Bahr el Ghazal River in South Sudan. He placed the species in the genus Estrilda (which he spelled as Estrelda) and coined the binomial name Estrilda paludicola. The specific epithet paludicola is Latin meaning "marsh-dweller" (from palus, paludis meaning "swamp" and -cola meaning "dweller").<p>Six subspecies are recognised:<p>The subspecies E. p. ochrogaster has sometimes been considered as a separate species, the Abyssinian waxbill.
- Scientific name
- Estrilda paludicola
- Authority
- Heuglin, 1863
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Estrilda
Range and habitat
The fawn-breasted waxbill is commonly found in subtropical/tropical (lowland) wet grassland habitats in Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. However, it also inhabits dry forest and dry shrubland habitats. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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The default red-winged black starling of lowland forests in its range, with a distinctive glossy black body and a noticeably long tail. Females are similar to males but have grayer, less glossy heads. Often seen in the canopy, especially in or near fruiting trees, where it sometimes forages with other starlings. Gives a mixture of grating notes and chucks along with whistled, two-parted flight calls.
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