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Kenya & Rwanda - Firefinches (1 Viewer)

1. Seen in Amboselli NP - September 2017
2. Seen in Kigali, Rwanda - September 2017

African vs Red-billed Firefinch

I am leaning toward African for both.
 

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I'm not long back from Rwanda, and I found both these firefinch species hard to tell apart there. I reckon both of these are male Red-billed, as they show quite a lot of red on lower mandible, and don't have black vent / undertail coverts. I am far from sure. I'd like to see more red on the bill, like the illustrations in the book, although I know Red-billed has a grey culmen (looks like the whole upper mandible is pretty grey). I would also like to see a good photo of a female African (Blue-billed) Firefinch for comparison.
I'm quite glad it wasn't just me that was struggling with this pair!
Bar-breasted Firefinch shouldn't occur anywhere near either location from the distribution maps I've seen.
 
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