| Lavender Waxbill | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Estrilda |
| Species: | E. caerulescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Estrilda caerulescens (Vieillot, 1817) |
|
The Lavender Waxbill (Estrilda caerulescens) is a common species of estrildid finch native to Central Africa and widely introduced in the USA. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 620,000 km².
It is found in subtropical/ tropical (lowland) dry shrubland habitats in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Togo & USA (breeding). The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.[1] Estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter (towards Africa and Pacific Ocean habitats).