Locust Finch (Paludipasser locustella) [XC509058]
by Frank Lambert from , Zambia (call)
Locust Finch (Paludipasser locustella) [XC309956]
by Frank Lambert from Chitunta plain, Mwinilunga, North-Western province, Malawi (flight call)
Subspecies
Genus sometimes subsumed in Ortygospiza, but the two appear not to be closely related. Relationships uncertain. In recent studies of mitochondrial DNA, appears to be basal to all other estrildids in one model, but in other models associated variously with Ortygospiza or Amandava or Amadina.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
uelensis Chapin, 1916 - Northern Nigeria, extreme south-eastern Cameroon, south-eastern Gabon, southern PRCongo, western and northern DRCongo and western Kenya.
locustella (Neave, 1909) - Patchily Angola, south-eastern DRCongo (southern Katanga), Tanzania (Ufipa Plateau and Iringa highlands), Zambia, Malawi, northern Botswana, northern Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet