Alternative name: Orange-breasted Waxbill
- Amandava subflava
Identification
9cm
- Reddish iris
- Orange breast
- Red bill
- Dark olive-green plumage
Male
- Red rump
- Dark bars on whitish flank
- Scarlet eyebrow stripe
Female: duller and smaller than male and lacks the red eyebrow
Distribution
Sub Saharan Africa and Middle East
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
Taxonomy
Some authorities place this species in the genus Sporaeginthus.
Subspecies
There are two recognized subspecies.1
- A. s. subflava:
- A. s. clarkei:
- Gabon and western Angola to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa
Habitat
Grassland and savannas.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes seeds, insects and shoots.
Breeding
The clutch of 4-6 eggs is laid in an oval-shaped nest made from grass.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Zebra Waxbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Zebra_Waxbill
