From Opus

Photo by wim de groot
The Gambia, March 2005

Euodice cantans

Lonchura cantans

[edit] Identification

This is a small drab finch-like bird with grey-brown upperparts, pale buff underparts and a dark, somewhat pointed tail; the most obvious feature being the large silver bill!

[edit] Distribution

A rather rare Estrildid finch found in sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator.

Northern Africa: Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain

Common in dry habitats in the Hawaiian Islands (introduced).

[edit] Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recognized:

• cantans:

• Senegal to central Sudan

• orientalis :

• Sudan to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and northern Tanzania; south-eastern Arabia

Some authorities place this species in genus Lonchura. ^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Savanna, arid landscape with thorn bush, and grasslands with acacias or sparse grassland. Found from 250-1500 m. Often near settlement

[edit] Behaviour

Very gregarious

[edit] Diet

The diet includes grass seeds.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a round bundle of grasses, lined with soft fibres and sometimes feathers, placed in a thick bush or hedge. 3-6 oval, smooth white eggs are laid and incubated by both parents for 11-13 days. The young fledge after 21 days.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase

• List of references

[edit] External Links