Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) [XC514694]
by Derek Solomon from Lac Tanma, Thies, Senegal (call)
Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) [XC350313]
by Fernand Deroussen from AGHRYMET, Niamey, Niger (call)
Subspecies
Genus has been considered closer to Lonchura than to estrildine genera, as it has a thick bill. However, both behaviour and the molecular phylogeny support a relationship with estrildine waxbills, rather than with lonchurine munias. This species sometimes thought to form a superspecies with Red-headed Finch (Amadina erythrocephala).
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
fasciata (Gmelin, 1789) - Southern Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, northern Guinea, central and southern Mali, northern Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, southern Niger and northern Nigeria east to Sudan and Uganda.
alexanderi Neumann, 1908 - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.
meridionalis Neunzig, 1910 - Southern Angola, northern Namibia, southern and eastern Zambia, northern and eastern Botswana, western Zimbabwe, Malawi and northern Mozambique.
contigua Clancey, 1970 - Southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and northern South Africa.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet