Swee Waxbill

The Swee Waxbill (Estrilda melanotis), also known as Yellow-bellied Waxbill, is a common species of estrildid finch found in 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.

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 five subspecies which are sometimes split into three separate species:

• Swee Waxbill or Black-faced Swee (E. melanotis) in southern Africa.
• Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Yellow-bellied Swee or East African Swee (E. quartinia) of the east African mountains with subspecies quartinia, kilimensis and stuartirwini. Males of all three lack black on the face. E. m. quartinia has a much brighter yellow belly than nominate E. m. melanotis.
• Angolan Waxbill or Angola Swee (E. bocagei) in western Angola.

Habitat and behavior

The Swee Waxbill is typically found in uplands in dry shrubland and open forest habitats. Some subspecies 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 Swee Waxbill's call is typically considered a soft swee, swee.

Origin

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).

References

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