Lavender waxbill

Lavender waxbill
At San Diego Zoo
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
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 successfully introduced on Hawai'i. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 620,000 km2.

Habitat

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 and the United States (Hawaii island only). The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.

Origin

Origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.[2] Estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter (towards Africa and Pacific Ocean habitats).

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Estrilda caerulescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. Arnaiz-Villena, A; Ruiz-del-Valle V; Gomez-Prieto P; Reguera R; Parga-Lozano C; Serrano-Vela I (2009). "Estrildinae Finches (Aves, Passeriformes) from Africa, South Asia and Australia: a Molecular Phylogeographic Study". The Open Ornithology Journal 2: 29–36. doi:10.2174/1874453200902010029.

External links