Alternative names: Orange Bishop
- Euplectes franciscanus
Identification
11 cm (4¼ in)
- Orange-red body
- Back belly
- Black forehead, crown, lores , cheek and ear-coverts
- Brown wings
- Long orange-red uppertail coverts (extend over short, brown tail)
Non-breeding male, female, and juvenile
- Brown-streaked upperparts
- Pale yellow throat
- Brown-streaked yellow sides
- White underparts
- Pinkish-grey bill
Distribution
Native across Africa south of Sahara, it is found naturalized in other parts of the world due to the cage trade.
Taxonomy
This is either a monotypic species[1], or one containing two subspecies, franciscanus and pusillus[2].
Habitat
Open savanna with tall shrubs and trees.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists mostly of small grass seeds and insects. In West Africa they seem to prefer millet seeds.
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/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Jan 2018)
- What Bird
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Northern Red Bishop. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Northern_Red_Bishop
