| Cut-throat finch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male | |
 | |
| Female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Amadina |
| Species: | A. fasciata |
| Binomial name | |
| Amadina fasciata (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
The cut-throat finch (Amadina fasciata) is a common species of estrildid finch found throughout Africa; it is also known as the bearded finch, the ribbon finch, the cut throat, and the weaver finch.
The cut-throat finch was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the crossbills in the genus Loxia and coined the binomial name Loxia fasciata. [2] The specific epithet is from Late Latin faciatus meaning "banded". [3] Gmelin based his account on the "fasciated grossbeak" that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English naturalist Peter Brown. [4] Neither Brown nor Gmelin specified a locality but in 1805 the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot designated Senegal. [5] [6] The cut-throat finch is now placed with the red-headed finch in the genus Amadina that was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalist William Swainson. [7]
Four subspecies are recognised: [7]
The cut-throat finch has plumage that is pale, sandy brown with flecks of black all over. It has a black-brown tail, a thick white chin and cheeks, and a chestnut brown patch on the belly. The legs are a pink fleshy colour. The adult male has a bright red band across its throat (thus the name "cut throat"), while the male juveniles have a slightly duller red band.
It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 3,300,000 km2. It is found throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the Sahel, eastern and southern parts of the continent.
Cut-throat finches usually use nests constructed by other birds . A clutch usually consists of 3 to 6 white eggs, which hatch after an incubation period of 12–13 days. [8] The chicks leave the nest after 21–27 days but continue to be fed by their parents for a further three weeks. [9]
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