Zebra Waxbill

Zebra Waxbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Estrildidae
Genus:	Amandava
Species:	A. subflava
Binomial name
Amandava subflava (Vieillot, 1819)

The Zebra Waxbill or Orange-breasted Waxbill (Amandava subflava) is a small (approximately 9 cm long) sparrow-like bird with a reddish iris, orange breast, red bill and dark olive-green plumage. The male has a red rump, dark bars on the whitish flank and a scarlet eyebrow stripe. The female is duller and smaller than male; it lacks the male's red eyebrow.

The Zebra Waxbill is found in grassland and savannas south of the Sahara in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km². This species is also introduced to other countries, e.g., Kuwait. Its diet consists mainly of seeds, insects and shoots. The female usually lays between four and six eggs in oval-shaped nest made from grass.

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Zebra Waxbill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES in Ghana.

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  A male, photographed at Cedara farm, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Origin

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

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Amandava subflava. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 31 October 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List