The finches of family Estrildidae are small birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia.
They are closely related to the true sparrows of family Passeridae.
These finches are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colors and pattern.
They are gregarious and often seed-eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills, varying from 8-17 cm.
The estrildids build large domed or ball shaped nests and lay 5-10 white eggs, predominantly in Africa and Australia.
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The typical African Estrildidae finch has a close relationship with grasses - they live near it, grass seeds are their favorite food, and grass is a major component of their nest, where they hide from predators.
There are about 136 birds in this family.
Most are 3-6 inches in length and have cone-shaped bills.
They are found in tropical areas of Africa, Asia, and Australia.
They are seed and berry eaters and come in a wide variety of colors and patterns and build large domed-shaped nests.
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Many species in this family, like the zebra finch, are kept as caged pets.
Here are some of the genera of African Finches:
- Amadina
- Brunhilda
- Coccopygia
- Estrilda
- Glaucestrilda
- Granatina
- Lagonosticta
- Ortygospiza
- Paludipasser
- Pyrenestes
- Pytilia
- Spermophagam
- Uraeginthus
All but two of the African Estrildidae finches have a conservation status of Least Concern.
African Finches
Waxbills
Of the 68 species, a quarter of the species are waxbills, which belong to four genera: Brunhilda, Coccopygia, Estrilda, and Glaucestrilda.
Most of this genus is found in Africa with one species, the Arabian waxbill, ranging into Asia.
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Some species are kept as pets and have been accidentally introduced to various parts of the world.
Their nest is typically ball shaped, made out of grass stems, has a tube-like entrance on the side or top, and may be placed on the ground, in a shrub, or low in a small tree.
They eat mainly grass seeds, but also insects, especially during breeding season.
They range length from 9 to 13 cm long, which also happens to be the distribution of lengths for the common waxbil (Estrilda astrild)l which has 15 subspecies.
These mainly grey African waxbills are from 10 to 11 cm long.
The common waxbill has a bright red bill.
These small seed eating birds are found across central and southern Africa.
Common Waxbill
Twinspots and Allies
One branch of a proposed Lagonostictinae subfamily contains the twinspots and their allies.
The twinspot genara are: Clytospiza, Euschistospiza, Hypargos, and Mandingoa.
The twinspots have plentiful white spots on their underparts.
Their allies the firefinches, which are in Lagonosticta, also have white spots on their underparts, but they fewer and smaller than for the twinspotsd.
The remaining allied species are in genus Pytilia.
The twinspots and all of these allies prefer to eat small seeds, especially grass seeds.
Most will also eat small insects, especially during breeding season.
Firefinches (Lagonosticta)
When you see most of the firefinch family, there’s little doubt how these small Estrildid finches got their name - their bright red plumage.
There are a total of eleven species in the family, which has the Latin name Lagonosticta, some of which are found in captivity with others less so.
The firefinches are so named for their mainly red colors, averaging 10 cm long.
They usually have some small white dots on their underparts, similar to the twinspots, but these spots are smaller and fewer.
Like the other members of the Estrildidae family, they mainly eat seeds with grass seeds being their favorite.
Most will also eat some small insects.
Their nests are made mostly out of grass fibers, are ball shaped, usually have a side entrance, and are located either on the ground or close to it.
African Firefinch (Lagonosticta rubricata)
The African firefinch (Lagonosticta rubricata), also called the blue-billed firefinch, is a common species of estrildid finch found in many parts of Africa.
The African firefinch was formally described in 1823 by the German naturalist Hinrich Lichtenstein, who placed it with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla rubricata.
Lichtenstein gave the locality as "terra Caffrorum".
The subspecies L. r. landanae has sometimes been treated as a separate species with the common name as either the Landana firefinch or the pale-billed firefinch, differing from the other subspecies mainly in the bill colour but its plumage is very close to that of L. r.
Male and Female African Firefinch
The African firefinch is a small red or red and brown species of estrildid finch.
The male has a lead grey crown, nape and neck, merging on to an olive brown mantles with the scapulars, wing coverts and tertials also olive brown, sometimes with a grey tinge.
The rump, uppertail coverts, outer tail fathers are deep carmine red, the rest of the tail is black.
The underparts from the chin to the belly are deep scarlet, with small white spots on the upper breast and flanks, the scarlet of the flanks continues to the side of the rump.
The centre of the belly is greyish becoming black on the vent and the undertail coverts.
The short, pointed bill is blackish-grey with a pink base to the lower mandible.
The song, which is given by both sexes, is made up of various ringing notes which are randomly repeated and interspersed with squeaky whistle, trills and warbles.
The alarm call is a harsh ticking which resembles the call of the Eurasian wren.
It generally prefers humid, thickly vegetated habitats such as bracken Pteridium aquilinum at forest edges, savanna with acacia woodland, rank grass within and belowscrub or thornbush, along streams and rivers with thick vegetation, often near quiet paths or roads.
