Zebra Waxbill

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Zebra Waxbill

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Amandava
Species: A. subflava
Binomial name
Amandava subflava
(Vieillot, 1819)

The Zebra Waxbill (Amandava subflava), also known as the Orange-breasted Waxbill, is a small (approximately 9 cm long) sparrow-like bird with a reddish iris, orange breast, red bill and dark olive-green plumage. The male has a red rump, dark bars on the whitish flank and a scarlet eyebrow stripe. The female is duller and smaller than male; it lacks the male's red eyebrow.

The Zebra Waxbill is found in grassland and savannas south of the Sahara in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km². This species is also introduced to other countries, e.g., Kuwait. Its diet consists mainly of seeds, insects and shoots. The female usually lays between four and six eggs in oval-shaped nest made from grass.

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Zebra Waxbill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES in Ghana.

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