Bronze Mannikin (Spermestes) [XC810745]
by GABRIEL LEITE from Gem West (near Imbo), Rangwe, Homa Bay County, Kenya (call, flight call)
Bronze Mannikin (Spermestes cucullata) [XC607402]
by GABRIEL LEITE from Mandegee farm, oloitoktok, Kenya (call)
Nest
A domed structure composed of grass located in a tree.
Subspecies
Subspecies intergrade in north-eastern DRCongo and Uganda. Proposed subspecies tessellata, described from Nampini (middle R Zambesi valley), in north-western Zimbabwe, is synonymized with scutata.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
cucullata (Swainson, 1837) - Senegambia, southern Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia east to Nigeria, southern Chad and southern Sudan, south to Gabon, PRCongo, Central African Republic and western Kenya (west of Rift Valley). Also Bioko I (Fernando Póo) and other islands in Gulf of Guinea.
scutata (Heuglin, 1863) - Ethiopia and Kenya (east of Rift Valley) south to southern DRCongo, Angola, northern and eastern Botswana, Mozambique and central and south-eastern South Africa. Also islands off Tanzania (Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia), and Comoro Is.