Africa Wild Bird Book

[nan]

850. Swee Waxbill Coccopygia melanotis (formerly: Estrilda melanotis) (Suidelike Swie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Estrildidae

Swee Waxbill.jpg (36.83 KiB) Viewed 1107 times

Description
The Swee Waxbill is 9–10 cm. The crimson rump and upper tail coverts and the yellow belly are distinctive in the field. It has 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 grey head, black face and red rump are diagnostic of male. The upper mandible is black, the lower mandible red.
The female's face is grey and is indistinguishable in the field from Yellow-bellied Waxbill; however, the ranges of the two species do not overlap.
Juveniles resemble females, but are much duller than the female and have an all-black bill.

Distribution
Endemic to southern Africa. Coccopygia melanotis can be found in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), occurring from the Limpopo Province south through Eswatini and the extreme south-west of Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal, extending east to the Eastern and Western Cape.



Habitat
It generally prefers edges of montane and coastal forest, wooded valleys in fynbos, bushy hillsides, grassy clearings in woodland, plantations and gardens.

Diet
It mainly eats seeds taken directly from grasses, supplemented with insects caught on the ground and in vegetation.

Breeding
A monogamous, solitary nester. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of an oval-shaped structure with a side-top entrance, built of dry grass and lined with soft grass inflorescences, feathers and plant down. It is typically placed in a tree, bush, creeper, garden pergola or Aloe, anywhere from about 2-9m above ground. Egg-laying season is from October-April. It lays 3-9 eggs, although the larger clutch sizes may have been laid by two females, which are incubated by both sexes for about 12-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, leaving the nest after about 19-22 days, becoming fully independent about 15-19 days later.
Parasitised by Pin-tailed Whydah.

Call
The contact call is a soft swee, swee. Song, a nasal, musical yet very soft whistled notes. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common but localised resident; endemic. Gregarious.

[nan]

850. Swee Waxbill Coccopygia melanotis


Male

© Michele Nel
Female

© Flutterby
Male, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town

Links:
[url=hthttp://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.php?spp=825#menu_left]Sabap2[/url]
Sasol

[Toko]

848. Grey Waxbill Glaucestrilda perreini (Gryssysie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Estrildidae

Grey Waxbill.jpg (20.06 KiB) Viewed 1184 times

Description
Length 10,5-11 cm; sexes alike. Plain grey bird, paler below; chin and eyestripe black (eyestripe red in Common Waxbill); rump crimson, conspicuous in flight (grey in Common Waxbill); undertail blackish. Tail longish, graduated, black. Iris red; bill blue-grey, tip and cutting edges black; legs and feet greenish black.
Immatures are duller versions of the adults and lack the black eye-stripe, rump duller red.
Similar species: Although they are similar and have the red rump, too, the East African Swee and Swee Waxbill lack the grey on the body and have green backs.

Distribution: From Gabon through Angola and Malawi to southern Africa, where it is locally common in north-central and southern Mozambique, extending into eastern Zimbabwe and KwaZulu-Natal. This small bird is found in Zululand and along the east of KwaZulu-Natal.



Habitat
It generally prefers dense undergrowth along edges of lowland and evergreen forest, coastal bush, sand forest and thickets.

Diet
It mainly eats seeds supplemented with insects and nectar, doing most of its foraging on the ground and in vegetation, plucking seeds directly from plants.

Breeding
The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of an oval-shaped structure with a side tunnel entrance, made of grass stems; the interior is lined with grass inflorescences (including Melinis). It is typically placed in a shrub or small tree, although instead of building its own it may use an abandoned weaver's nest, such as Dark-backed, Spectacled and Village weavers. Egg-laying season is from about March-April in Zimbabwe and from October-February in KwaZulu-Natal. It lays 2-5 white eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about 12 days. The chicks are brooded for the first week or so of their lives, leaving the nest at about 19-21 days and becoming independent about a week later.

Call
A soft pseeu, pseeu.

Status
Locally common resident, but is scarce in the south of its range.

[Toko]

848. Grey Waxbill Glaucestrilda perreini

© Toko
Tembe Elephant Park

© Toko
Tembe Elephant Park

© Peter Connan
uMkhuze, Kumasinga Hide

Links:
Species Text Sabap1
Sabap2

[Flutterby]

846. Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild (Rooibeksysie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Estrildidae

Common Waxbill.jpg (37.95 KiB) Viewed 1155 times

Description
It is a small finch, with a slender body, short rounded wings and a long graduated tail. The bright red bill of the adult gives the bird its name. The plumage is mostly grey-brown, finely barred with dark brown. There is a red stripe through the eye and the cheeks and throat are whitish. There is often a pinkish flush to the underparts and a reddish stripe along the centre of the belly. The rump is brown and the tail and vent are dark/black. Black undertail coverts, with black legs and feet.
Females are similar to the males but are paler with less red on the belly.
Juveniles are duller with little or no red on the belly, fainter dark barring and a black bill.

Distribution
Across much of sub-Saharan Africa, from Guinea to Ethiopia south to southern Africa. Here it is most common in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana and South Africa, with more localised populations in Namibia; absent only from the Central Kalahari in Botswana.

Habitat
Long grass in damp areas, alongside rivers and in reedbeds.

Diet
The diet consists mainly of grass seeds but insects are also eaten on occasions, especially during the breeding season when more protein is needed. These waxbills typically forage in flocks. They usually feed by clinging to the stems with their long, spindly claws and picking from the flower heads but they will also search for fallen seeds on the ground. They need to drink regularly as the seeds contain little water.

Breeding
Common Waxbills are monogamous. The nest is built the male, consisting of a horizontal pear-shaped structure with a tubular entrance tunnel, made of stems and inflorescences of green grass, while the egg chamber is lined by the female with fine grass and feathers. Additionally a partially enclosed cup may built on top of the main structure, possibly to confuse predators. It is typically placed on the ground, with the entrance overlooking a small patch of bare soil, although it may conceal it in thick vegetation about 1-3 metres above ground instead. Egg-laying season is year round, peaking from September-October in the Western Cape, but from November-May peaking from December-February elsewhere. It lays 3-9, usually 4-6 white eggs, which are incubate by both sexes for about 11-12 days. The chicks are fed and brooded by both parents, leaving the nest after about 17-21 days, after which they return the nest to roost for a few more days.
The nests are sometimes parasitized by the Pin-tailed Whydah, for which the Common Waxbill is the main host.

Call
The Common Waxbill has a variety of twittering and buzzing calls and a distinctive high-pitched ping, ping flight-call. Only the cock sings. Two low, harsh cher, cher notes followed by a throaty bubbling note with a rising inflection or a harsh di-di-di-chee. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident.

[Flutterby]

846. Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild

© Pumbaa
Kruger National Park, Feb 2020

© nan

© Joan
Pilanesberg

© Duke
iSimangaliso, Cape Vidal, KwaZulu-Natal

Links:
Sabap2
Sasol
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-common-waxbill.html

[nan]

847. Black-faced Waxbill Brunhilda erythronotos (Swartwangsyie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Estrildidae

Black-faced Waxbill.jpg (24.97 KiB) Viewed 1157 times

Description
Small (11-12.5 cm) with black face and red rump, flanks and upper belly. Tail is black and wings are barred black and grey-buff. The greyish brown body and head, conspicuous black face patch, barred wings and dark red rump and flanks render this species unmistakable. Black bill, legs and feet; and crimson eyes.
Female is slightly duller, less red and has brown eyes.
Immature is like female.

Distribution
It occurs in two separate areas of sub-Saharan Africa roughly 1300 km apart; one in East Africa from Uganda to Tanzania and the other population extending from southern Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is common from western Zimbabwe and northern and north-eastern South Africa to Botswana and Namibia.

Habitat
Grassy areas and thick tangles in dry thronveld.

Diet
The diet includes grass seeds, also insects and nectar.

Breeding
Black-faced Waxbills are monogamous and build a large ball-shaped nest from grass stalks and seed heads high up in thin uppermost branches of thorny tree or shrub, making it distinctive among waxbills. The female lays a clutch of two to four white eggs that hatch after an incubation period of 12 days.
The nests may be parasitised by Pin-tailed Whydah.

Call
Contact calls between sexes different; high-pitched chuloweee or a loud pee-pee-wee and similar notes. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident; generally sedentary and in pairs or small groups in non-breading season.

[nan]

847. Black-faced Waxbill Brunhilda erythronotos


Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

© Mel

© Sharifa & Duke

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2
Sasol

[Amoli]

854. Orange-breasted Waxbill, Zebra Waxbill Amandava subflava (Rooiassie)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Estrildidae

Description
Small (9-10 cm) with a reddish iris, orange breast, red bill and dark olive-green plumage.
The male has black lores and a scarlet eyebrow stripe, a red rump and upper tail coverts, orange undertail coverts, dark bars on the whitish flank. The male's orange breast is variable in extent, sometimes absent.
The female is duller and smaller than male; it lacks the male's red eyebrow, has pale orange undertailcoverts; rump to tail dull red.
Juvenile: dull buff-brown upperparts, rump brown, bill blackish.

Distribution
It occurs from Senegal to southern Sudan, Ethiopia and North Yemen south to Southern Africa. to southern Africa. Here it is locally common in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and north-eastern and eastern South Africa, while rare in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip (Namibia).

Habitat
Tall grassland savannas, edges of swamps or reedbeds and rank vegetation on forest edges.

Diet
It mainly eats seeds taken directly from grass inflorescences or the soil, supplemented with insects.

Breeding
It usually uses the nest of another bird, especially Southern red bishop but also widowbirds, weavers, cisticolas and prinias. It may add a new entrance on the side if it was originally placed on the bottom, after which the female lines the interior with feathers. The male may rarely build an untidy ball-shaped nest instead, made of dry grass inflorescences, culms and leaves and lined with finer material, such as feathers. Egg-laying season is from January-June, peaking from February-May. It lays 3-7 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about 13-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, leaving the nest after about 17-19 days and becoming fully independent about two weeks later.

Call
The call is a quiet, metallic tinkling often made in flight.

Status
Common resident.

[Amoli]

854. Orange-breasted Waxbill, Zebra Waxbill Amandava subflava


Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng




Rietvlei Nature Reserve

Links:
Species Text Sabap1
Sabap2
Newman's Birds of Southern Africa