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Revision as of 10:34, 10 April 2008

Lagonosticta rubricata

Photo by louisdup

Identification

This is a small, wary but brightly coloured ground-feeding bird. It is also known as the Blue-billed Firefinch because of its bill colour.

Distribution

Africa south of the Sahara

Taxonomy

Subspecies (Fry et al, 2004): L. r. rubricata: South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique south of the Save River. L. r. landanae: Cabina, lower Congo, western Angola. L. r. haematocephala: East Africa; Ethiopia to Uganda and south to Zimbabwe and Mozambique north of the Save River. L. r. congica: Cameroon to southern Sudan, western Uganda and Zaire. L. r. polionata: Guinea to Nigeria.

Habitat

Bush and tall grass. Thickets in thornveld, riverine scrub, forest edges and suburbia. In more moist habitats than most firefinches.

Behaviour

Feeds on small seeds and small insects on the ground.

References

Fry H, Keith S,Woodcook M & Willis I. 2004. Birds of Africa Vol VII: Sparrows to Buntings. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0713665319

External Links