| Spermestes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bronze mannikin (Spermestes cucullata) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Spermestes Swainson, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Spermestes cucullata bronze mannikin Swainson, 1837 | |
| Species | |
See text | |
Spermestes is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The genus Spermestes was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson to accommodate the bronze mannikin. [1] The name combines the Ancient Greek sperma meaning "seed" and -estēs meaning "-eater". [2]
Based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020, this genus was resurrected for a clade of species that were formerly assigned to the genera Lonchura and Odontospiza. [3] [4]
The genus contains four species: [4]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey-headed silverbill | Spermestes griseicapilla (Delacour, 1943) | eastern Africa | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Bronze mannikin | Spermestes cucullata Swainson, 1837 | Africa south of the Sahara Desert | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Magpie mannikin | Spermestes fringilloides (Lafresnaye, 1835) | Sub-Saharan Africa | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Black-and-white mannikin | Spermestes bicolor (Fraser, 1843) Four subspecies
| African tropical rainforest | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "finch" being included in the common names of some species, they are not closely related to birds with this name in other families, such as the Fringillidae, Emberizidae or Passerellidae.
The African silverbill is a small passerine bird formerly considered conspecific with the Asian species Indian silverbill,. This estrildid finch is a common resident breeding bird in dry savanna habitat, south of the Sahara Desert. This species has also been introduced to other countries such as Portugal, Qatar and United States.
The bronze mannikin or bronze munia is a small passerine bird of the Afrotropics. This very social estrildid finch is an uncommon to locally abundant bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, where it is resident, nomadic or irruptive in mesic savanna or forest margin habitats. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 8,100,000 km2. It is the smallest and most widespread of four munia species on the African mainland, the other being black-and-white, red-backed and magpie mannikin. It co-occurs with the Madagascar mannikin on the Comoro Islands, and was introduced to Puerto Rico. Especially in the West Africa, it is considered a pest in grain and rice fields. It is locally trapped for the pet bird trade.
The double-barred finch is an estrildid finch found in dry savannah, tropical (lowland) dry grassland and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or as the owl finch, the latter of which owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face. It is the only species placed in the genus Stizoptera .
The black-faced waxbill is a common species of estrildid finch found in southern Africa. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.
The plum-headed finch also known as cherry finch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It is the only species placed in the genus Aidemosyne. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 100,000 – 1,000,000 km2.
Nesocharis is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are found in Africa.
The black-and-white mannikin also black-and-white munia or red-backed mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch, widely occurring throughout the African tropical rainforest. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 4,200,000 km2. It is found in moist savanna and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest habitat. The status of the species is evaluated as least concern. They are seedeaters, but are known to feed on algae.
Estrilda is a genus of estrildid finch in the family Estrildidae.
The firefinches form a genus, Lagonosticta, of small seed-eating African birds in the family Estrildidae.
Meiglyptes is a genus of Southeast Asian birds in the woodpecker family Picidae.
Pytilia is a genus of small brightly coloured seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across Africa.
Parrotfinches are small, colourful passerine birds belonging to the genus Erythrura in the family Estrildidae, the estrildid finches. They occur from South-east Asia to New Guinea, and many Pacific Islands. They inhabit forest, bamboo thickets and grassland and some can be found in man-made habitats such as farmland, parks and gardens. Several species are commonly kept as cagebirds.
Hypargos is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae that are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Euodice is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. These species are from the dry zones of Africa and India and are commonly referred to as silverbills. They were formerly included in the genus Lonchura.
Amandava is a genus of the estrildid finches. These birds are found in dense grass or scrub in Africa and South Asia. They are gregarious seed-eaters with short, red bills. In earlier literature, amadavat and amidavad have been used. The name amandava, along with amadavat and amidavad are all corruptions of Ahmedabad, a city in Gujarat, India from where the first few specimens of the red munia Amandava amandava were obtained.
Coccopygia, is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across central and southern Africa.
Brunhilda is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the waxbill family Estrildidae. The species are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Granatina is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae that are found in Africa.
Mayrimunia is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae that are endemic to New Guinea.
 | This Estrildidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
