Green-winged Pytilia
Pytilia melba
A vividly colored waxbill with a red bill, rump, and tail and an olive-green back and wings. The male’s forehead and throat are orange-red, and it sports a bright breast band which varies in color geographically. The female lacks the breast band and has a gray head. Pairs and small flocks are resident in arid thorn savanna, dry woodland, and cultivation, where they feed on the ground for seeds and insects and fly into trees when disturbed. The species may join mixed-species flocks. The similar Orange-winged Pytilia differs from the larger Green-winged Pytilia by having diagnostic golden-yellow edges to the wing feathers.
Taxonomy
The green-winged pytilia was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla melba. No explanation was provided for the specific epithet melba but it could possibly be from a supposed Chinese word or place. Linnaeus based his description on "The Green Gold-Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards was uncertain of the origin of his specimen and Linnaeus mistakenly specified the locality as China. The specimen was subsequently assumed to be from Angola, but this was restricted to Luanda in Angola by Phillip Clancey in 1962. The green-winged pytilia is now placed in the genus Pytilia that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson for the red-winged pytilia.<p>Eight subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Pytilia melba
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Pytilia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

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