Estrildidae

 ( Bird Families ) 

Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills.

They are gregarious and often colonial seed predation with short, thick, but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colours and patterns.

All estrildids build large, domed nests and lay five to ten white eggs. Many species build roost nests. Some of the firefinches and pytilias are hosts to the brood parasitism and indigobird, respectively.

Most are sensitive to cold and require warm, usually tropical, habitats, although a few, such as the eastern alpine mannikin, mountain firetail, red-browed finch, and the genus Stagonopleura, have adapted to the cooler climates of southern Australia and the highlands of New Guinea.

The smallest species of the family is the Shelley's oliveback ( Nesocharis shelleyi) at a mere , although the lightest species is the black-rumped waxbill ( Estrilda troglodytes) at . The largest species is the Java sparrow ( Padda oryzivora) at and .

---

Taxonomy The family Estrildidae was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte as "Estreldinae", a spelling variant of the subfamily name. In the list of world birds maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) the family contains 140 species divided into 41 genera. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown the family Estrildidae is sister taxon to the family Viduidae containing the indigobirds and whydahs. The two families diverged around 15.5 million year ago. The most recent common ancestor of the Estrildidae is estimated to have lived around 10.9 million years ago. A genetic study of the Estrildidae by Urban Olsson and Per Alström published in 2020 identified 6 major clades. The radiations within these clades occurred between 4.5 and 8.9 million years ago. The authors proposed that each of these clades should be treated as a subfamily. This contrasts with an earlier proposal in which the family was divided into three subfamilies.

---

Genera list

Pictorella mannikin, Heteromunia pectoralis

Mountain firetail, Oreostruthus fuliginosus

Beautiful firetail, Stagonopleura bella Red-eared firetail, Stagonopleura oculata Diamond firetail, Stagonopleura guttata

Red-browed finch, Neochmia temporalis Crimson finch, Neochmia phaeton

Painted finch, Emblema pictum

Star finch, Bathilda ruficauda

Plum-headed finch, Aidemosyne modesta

Double-barred finch, Stizoptera bichenovii

Sunda zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata Australian zebra finch, Taeniopygia castanotis

Masked finch, Poephila personata Long-tailed finch, Poephila acuticauda Black-throated finch, Poephila cincta

Grey-headed silverbill, Spermestes griseicapilla Bronze mannikin, Spermestes cucullata, also known as bronze munia Magpie mannikin, Spermestes fringilloides, also known as magpie munia Black-and-white mannikin, Spermestes bicolor, also known as black-and-white munia

Madagascar mannikin, Lepidopygia nana

African silverbill, Euodice cantans Indian silverbill, Euodice malabarica also known as white-throated munia

Java sparrow, Padda oryzivora Timor sparrow, Padda fuscata

Streak-headed mannikin, Mayrimunia tristissima White-spotted mannikin, Mayrimunia cinereovinacea

Scaly-breasted munia, Lonchura punctulata, also known as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch Black-throated munia, Lonchura kelaarti, also known as Jerdon's mannikin Black-faced munia, Lonchura molucca White-rumped munia, Lonchura striata Dusky munia, Lonchura fuscans White-bellied munia, Lonchura leucogastra New Hanover mannikin, Lonchura nigerrima Tricolored munia, Lonchura malacca Chestnut munia, Lonchura atricapilla White-capped munia, Lonchura ferruginosa White-headed munia, Lonchura maja Pale-headed munia, Lonchura pallida Great-billed mannikin, Lonchura grandis Black-breasted mannikin, Lonchura teerinki Western alpine mannikin, Lonchura montana Eastern alpine mannikin, Lonchura monticola Grey-banded mannikin, Lonchura vana Grey-crowned mannikin, Lonchura nevermanni Hooded mannikin, Lonchura spectabilis Mottled mannikin, Lonchura hunsteini New Hanover mannikin, Lonchura nigerrima Forbes's mannikin, Lonchura forbesi Javan munia, Lonchura leucogastroides Yellow-rumped mannikin, Lonchura flaviprymna Five-colored munia, Lonchura quinticolor Chestnut-breasted mannikin, Lonchura castaneothorax Black mannikin, Lonchura stygia Buff-bellied mannikin, Lonchura melaena

Gouldian finch, Chloebia gouldiae

Tawny-breasted parrotfinch, Erythrura hyperythra Pin-tailed parrotfinch, Erythrura prasina Green-faced parrotfinch, Erythrura viridifacies Tricolored parrotfinch, Erythrura tricolor Blue-faced parrotfinch, Erythrura trichroa Red-eared parrotfinch, Erythrura coloria Papuan parrotfinch, Erythrura papuana Red-throated parrotfinch, Erythrura psittacea Fiji parrotfinch, Erythrura pealii Red-headed parrotfinch, Erythrura cyaneovirens Royal parrotfinch, Erythrura regia Pink-billed parrotfinch, Erythrura kleinschmidti

White-collared oliveback, Nesocharis ansorgei Shelley's oliveback, Nesocharis shelleyi

Yellow-bellied waxbill, Coccopygia quartinia Swee waxbill, Coccopygia melanotis Angola waxbill, Coccopygia bocagei

Green-backed twinspot, Mandingoa nitidula

Red-faced crimsonwing, Cryptospiza reichenovii Abyssinian crimsonwing, Cryptospiza salvadorii Dusky crimsonwing, Cryptospiza jacksoni Shelley's crimsonwing, Cryptospiza shelleyi

Red-fronted antpecker, Parmoptila rubrifrons Jameson's antpecker, Parmoptila jamesoni – often included in P. rubrifrons Woodhouse's antpecker, Parmoptila woodhousei

White-breasted nigrita, Nigrita fusconotus Chestnut-breasted nigrita, Nigrita bicolor Pale-fronted nigrita, Nigrita luteifrons Grey-headed nigrita, Nigrita canicapillus

Grey-headed oliveback, Delacourella capistrata

Black-faced waxbill, Brunhilda erythronotos Black-cheeked waxbill, Brunhilda charmosyna

Lavender waxbill, Glaucestrilda caerulescens Grey waxbill, Glaucestrilda perreini Cinderella waxbill, Glaucestrilda thomensis

Black-crowned waxbill, Estrilda nonnula Black-headed waxbill, Estrilda atricapilla Kandt's waxbill, Estrilda kandti Orange-cheeked waxbill, Estrilda melpoda Anambra waxbill, Estrilda poliopareia Fawn-breasted waxbill, Estrilda paludicola Common waxbill, Estrilda astrild Black-lored waxbill, Estrilda nigriloris Black-rumped waxbill, Estrilda troglodytes Crimson-rumped waxbill, Estrilda rhodopyga Arabian waxbill, Estrilda rufibarba

Quailfinch, Ortygospiza atricollis

Locust finch, Paludipasser locustella

Cut-throat finch, Amadina fasciata Red-headed finch, Amadina erythrocephala

Red avadavat, Amandava amandava also known as red munia Green avadavat, Amandava formosa Orange-breasted waxbill, Amandava subflava

Purple grenadier, Granatina ianthinogaster Violet-eared waxbill, Granatina granatina

Blue waxbill, Uraeginthus angolensis Red-cheeked cordon-bleu, Uraeginthus bengalus Blue-capped cordon-bleu, Uraeginthus cyanocephalus

Grant's bluebill, Spermophaga poliogenys Western bluebill, Spermophaga haematina Red-headed bluebill, Spermophaga ruficapilla

Crimson seedcracker, Pyrenestes sanguineus Black-bellied seedcracker, Pyrenestes ostrinus Lesser seedcracker, Pyrenestes minor

Orange-winged pytilia, Pytilia afra Red-winged pytilia, Pytilia phoenicoptera Red-billed pytilia, Pytilia lineata Green-winged pytilia, Pytilia melba Yellow-winged pytilia, Pytilia hypogrammica

Dybowski's twinspot, Euschistospiza dybowskii Dusky twinspot, Euschistospiza cinereovinacea

Red-throated twinspot, Hypargos niveoguttatus Pink-throated twinspot, Hypargos margaritatus

Brown twinspot, Clytospiza monteiri

Bar-breasted firefinch, Lagonosticta rufopicta Brown firefinch, Lagonosticta nitidula Red-billed firefinch, Lagonosticta senegala Black-bellied firefinch, Lagonosticta rara African firefinch, Lagonosticta rubricata Jameson's firefinch, Lagonosticta rhodopareia Mali firefinch, Lagonosticta virata Rock firefinch, Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis Black-faced firefinch, Lagonosticta larvata Chad firefinch, Lagonosticta umbrinodorsalis

---

External links

• Zipcode Zoo: Estrildidae
• Internet Bird Collection.com: Estrildidae videos, photos and sounds
• Waxbill Finch Society — specialist waxbill bird society based in the UK''.

Categories: Bird Families

Post Comment