Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Estrilda melpoda
A tiny finch of grassy areas. Key features include the brown back, red rump, orange face, and bright red bill. Found in grasslands, forest clearings, and thickets. Call include a high, thin squeaking “zwee” and a snappy ‘chi-de-chi’. Song is a sort and truncated series of whistles. Native to Africa; introduced to Japan, Spain, the Hawaiian Islands, and parts of the Caribbean.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Estrilda melpoda
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Estrilda
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The orange-cheeked waxbill lives in small family parties or flocks of thirty of more individuals. Their high-pitched peeps are the best clue of their presence. Like most estridids, they are very acrobatic in their movements on twigs and grass stems, "climbing" up and down verticals and hanging upside down while feeding. Males usually have brighter orange patches on the abdomen.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yungas Sparrow
Rhynchospiza dabbenei
Attractive sparrow found along the western edge of the Andes in northwestern Argentina, barely reaching over the border into Bolivia. Note the chestnut head stripes, dark smudge between eye and bill, and black and white mustache. Similar to Chaco Sparrow, with which it was formerly lumped as Stripe-capped Sparrow, but is larger with more extensive black on the face, rustier wings, and a different voice. Inhabits open, grassy habitats with scattered trees and low scrub. Song is a slow series of wheezy chirps.
Chestnut-breasted Malkoha
Phaenicophaeus curvirostris
Combination of a bright red face, staring pale eyes, and chunky bicolored bill lends this lowland and foothill forest species a clownlike countenance. Dark glossy greenish above and rich chestnut-brown below, this oversized cuckoo clumps about amongst foliage, looking rather squirrel-like in its movements. Sometimes joins mixed flocks. Gives a range of strange calls, including hollow knocks and hoarse crowing and mewing notes.
Two-barred Warbler
Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus
A small songbird, greenish above, white below, with black-bordered white supercilium and thin white wingbars. Larger and more contrastingly marked than Yellow-browed Warbler, which has weaker wingbars and a generally stouter appearance. Not as elongate-looking as Arctic Warbler, with a shorter-billed profile and a more extensive white supercilium that reaches the base of the upper bill (Arctic's brow stops well short of the bill). Extremely similar to Greenish Warbler: Two-barred tends to be more brightly colored above than Greenish and has two wingbars instead of one. Song a series of quick trills and squeaks, lacking the two introductory notes of Greenish; call a flat series of three notes, similar to Greenish. Breeds in taiga forest, winters in a range of forest and forest edge habitats.
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