- Euplectes afer
Identification
10 cm (4 in)
Breeding male
- Black plumage
- Fluffy yellow crown, back rump, flanks and under tail-coverts
Non-breeding male and female
- White undersides, streaking on flanks
- Buffy-yellow eye brow
When the feathers are not puffed out, it looks slimmer and smaller
Distribution
Africa, south of the Sahara.
There is a large population of introduced birds in Portugal
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Euplectes afer has three subspecies:[1]
- E. a. afer
- Southern Mauritania south patchily to Sierra Leone, east to western Sudan, and south to Congo, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and western Angola
- E. a. strictus: narrow black nape band and all black underparts
- Highlands of Ethiopia
- E. a. taha: a broader black band and yellow feathers on the breast sides
- Southern Angola east to South Sudan and southwestern Ethiopia, south to South Africa
Habitat
Flooded grassland, lakesides and reed beds, breeding in the wetter spots.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists mostly of grass seeds; however captive birds also eat items such as meal worms and caterpillars.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Subspecies strictus
Photo by volker sthamer
Debre Zeid, Ethiopia
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/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Yellow-crowned Bishop. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Yellow-crowned_Bishop
