Swee Waxbill

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Swee Waxbill
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae Genus: Estrilda Species: E. melanotis
Binomial name
Estrilda melanotis (Temminck, 1823)

The Swee Waxbill Estrilda melanotis also known as Yellow-bellied Waxbill is a common species of estrildid finch found in of Sub-Saharan Africa.

It breeds in Angola, Benin, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 380,000 km².

[edit] Description and subspecies

The Swee Waxbill is 9-10 cm long with a grey head and breast, pale yellow belly, olive back and wings, red lower back and rump, and a black tail. The upper mandible is black and the lower red. The male has a black face, but the female's face is grey. Juveniles are much duller than the female and have an all-black bill.

There are four subspecies. E. m. quartinia of the east African mountains has a much brighter yellow belly than nominate E. m. melanotis, and was formerly separated as East African Swee or Yellow-bellied Waxbill E. m. quartinia, but is now usually lumped with Estrilda melanotis following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).

[edit] Habitat and behaviour

The Swee Waxbill is typically found in uplands in dry shrubland and open forest habitats. Some subspecies are also occur in lowlands, and may be seen in large gardens.

This species is a common and tame bird typically seen in small parties, and does not form large flocks. the call is a soft swee, swee.

[edit] Reference

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• Clement, Harris and Davis, Finches and Sparrows ISBN 0-7136-8017-2