- Lagonosticta rara
Identification
13-15cm. Male - deep scarlet head, neck, chin, throat and upper flanks, black mantle, black wings, back and tail, dark iris and pink eye-ring, upper mandible black, lower mandible mainly pink, red or whitish from the base, remainder black, slate grey to blackish legs and feet.
Female - dark wine-red loral stripe from the bill to eye, eye-ring grey, brownish grey throat, dark brown-grey head, nape and hind neck, brown mantle and back washed with dull wine-red, wine-red rump and upper tail coverts, olive wings, brown tail, light, pinkish carmine breast and flanks, buff lower breast and belly, becoming dull black on the ventral area and under tail coverts.
Juveniles - dull brown, paler on the bellies, buffish on the under tail coverts, dull carmine upper tail coverts.
L. r. forbesi - brighter, warm, rich crimson plumage, wing coverts and inner secondaries widely edged with red on the back, deeper black underparts; female - dark greyish, not buff, belly, more red on back, brighter red rump and upper tail coverts.
Distribution
Taxonomy
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- L. r. rara - Cameroon to South Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, and western Kenya
- L. r. forbesi - Sierra Leone, southern Guinea east to Ghana, central and northern Nigeria.
Habitat
Savanna grasslands, wooded and bushed areas, cultivated areas and farmland at 750-1750 m.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes small seeds, insects, particularly worker and winged termites.
Breeding
It builds a spherical nest, from grass seed-heads, rootlets or other vegetable fibres, lined with feathers. 3-4 eggs are laid and are incubated by both parents. The young are fed primarily insects.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-bellied Firefinch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-bellied_Firefinch
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
