Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) [XC44743]
by Rory Nefdt from Kingolwira, Morogoro, Tanzania (call)
Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) [XC203036]
by Faansie Peacock from Hwange, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe (call)
Subspecies
Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) and Chad Firefinch (Lagonosticta umbrinodorsalis) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) are been lumped into Lagonosticta rhodopareia, while retaining virata (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) as a separate species contra Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) who lump all three taxa into Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia). This treatment is under review by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group.
Has been suggested as forming a superspecies with Mali Firefinch (Lagonosticta virata) and Chad Firefinch (Lagonosticta umbrinodorsalis), and the three sometimes treated as conspecific. Superspecies treatment, if appropriate, would presumably include also recently described Rock Firefinch (Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis). Nominate subspecies intergrades with jamesoni in north-western Kenya and northern Uganda, and ansorgei intergrades with jamesoni in northern Namibia.
Proposed subspecies taruensis (described from Tsavo, in Kenya) synonymized with jamesoni.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
rhodopareia (Heuglin, 1868) - North-western Eritrea, south-western Ethiopia, southern Sudan and north-eastern Uganda east to northern and western Kenya.
ansorgei Neumann, 1908 - Extreme south-western DRCongo (lower R Congo), Angola (Cabinda, and Luanda east to Lunda Norte and south to northern Namibe and Moxico) and north-western Namibia (R Cunene).
jamesoni Shelley, 1882 - Eastern and southern Kenya (southern from lower R Tana and Lamu) south to Tanzania, south-eastern DRCongo, Zambia, Malawi, extreme north-eastern Namibia (Caprivi), northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, northern and north-eastern South Africa (south to extreme northern KwaZulu-Natal) and Swaziland.