Introduced to Bermuda (B), Martinique (B), Puerto Rico (B), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (PE) (B).
Southern Mauritania, Senegambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, southern Mali, northern Sierra Leone, northern Liberia, Burkina Faso, northern Ivory Coast, Ghana (mainly inland, local on coast), Togo, Benin, south-western Niger, Nigeria (primarily north of the great rivers), southern Chad, northern Cameroon; northern Central African Republic; Sudan (especially R Nile and tributaries), western and north-eastern Ethiopia, western Eritrea and north-western and southern Somalia, south to north-eastern DRCongo, northern Uganda and western Kenya (L Baringo and L Bogoria). Introduced (escaped cagebirds) in south-western USA (near Los Angeles, in California; breeding reported also Arizona); introduced c. 1960 in West Indies, on Puerto Rico, with breeding on Martinique and Guadeloupe, and recorded on Jamaica and St Croix (Virgin Is). Reported introduction in Japan of E. orix more likely to be referable to present species.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Birds in east of range sometimes recognized as subspecies pusillus (described from L Chew Bahir, in southern Ethiopia).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
franciscanus (Isert, 1789) - Southern Mauritania south to northern Liberia, east to Eritrea, Ethiopia, north-western and southern Somalia, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya.
pusillus (Hartert, 1901) - South-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet