Ethiopian Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata)

Other Names (World)
Ethiopian Firefinch, Black-throated Firefinch, Black-faced Firefinch, Masked Firefinch, Dusky Firefinch, Grey Firefinch (vinacea, nigricollis), Gray Firefinch (vinacea, nigricollis), Grey Black-faced Firefinch (vinacea, nigricollis), Gray Black-faced Firefinch (vinacea, nigricollis), Vinaceous Firefinch (vinacea), Vinaceous Waxbill (vinacea)

Family
Estrildidae (Waxbills)

Size
10 - 11 cm

First Described (Guide)
(R�ppell, 1840)

Habitat
Dry savanna. Also, subtropical and tropical lowland dry shrubland.

Range (Guide)

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Pairs or small family groups. Often seen foraging on the ground.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (3)...)

Black-faced Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata) [XC405752]
by id from Dindefelo-Segou, K\u00e9dougou, Senegal (call)

Black-faced Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata) [XC300358]
by Bram Piot from Gibe gorge area, Ethiopia (song)

Nest
Composed of grass and plant fiber, often lined with small feathers.

Eggs (Guide)
4; white. Incubation: 11 - 13 days.

Young
Fledge in 18 - 21 days.

Subspecies
Vinaceous Firefinch (Lagonosticta vinacea) and Ethiopian Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata) have been lumped into Lagonosticta larvata following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).

Subspecies vinacea and nigricollis sometimes treated together as forming a separate species, differing from nominate in the amount of red, pink and grey in plumage. However, in preliminary mitochondrial phylogeny, nominate subspecies (from Ethiopia) and nigricollis (from Cameroon) appear closer to each other than to vinacea (from Senegal and Gambia) and share a more recent common ancestor. There are no apparent differences among subspecies in vocalizations.

Proposed subspecies togoensis (described from Kete Kratschi, in Togo) is treated as a synonym of nigricollis.

The following 3 subspecies are recognised:

vinacea (Hartlaub, 1857) - Senegal and Gambia east to Guinea and western Mali (to Mandinga Mts). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Vinaceous Firefinch (Lagonosticta vinacea).
nigricollis Heuglin, 1863 - Southern Mali east to western and southern Sudan, north-eastern DRCongo (Uele) and Uganda. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Grey Firefinch (Lagonosticta nigricollis).
larvata (R�ppell, 1840) - Extreme eastern Sudan (Gallabat) and Ethiopia.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Ethiopian Firefinch (Lagonosticta larvata) - 10 files

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BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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