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Species
Estrilda astrild (Linnaeus, 1758)
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) are native across much of sub-Saharan Africa. The species has been introduced to the Americas, the Mediterranean Basin, and Oceania. A high reproductive rate and ability to adapt to new food sources have allowed common waxbills to successfully naturalize in many of the areas to which it has been introduced. While most of these introductions are thought to result from the escape of caged individuals, some regions have introduced flocks deliberately.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Introduced ); palearctic (Introduced ); ethiopian (Native ); neotropical (Introduced ); australian (Introduced ); oceanic islands (Introduced )
- Oren, D., N. Smith. 1981. Notes on the Status of the Common African Waxbill in Amazonia. Wilson Ornithological Society, Vol. 93, No. 2: 281-282.
- Reino, L., T. Silva. 1998. The distribution and expansion of the common waxbill (Estrilda astrild) in the Iberian Peninsula. Biological Conservation Fauna, 102: 163-167.
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Estrilda_astrild/ |
Gregarious.
Comments: Eats grass seeds.
Sub-Saharan Africa: all S of Sahara, Cameroon - C Ethiopia and south except most of forest area, to the N and E of S Kenya (but in C Ethiopia), most of drier areas of Namibia, Botswana, and parts of Tanzania and N Mozambique.
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Rights holder/Author | Cooleman, Stijn, Cooleman, Stijn, Afrotropical birds in the RMCA |
Source | No source database. |
Common waxbills use both song and body language to communicate. The song of Estrilda astrild is a soft, simple call with notes varying only slightly in pitch and length from the contact note. A common body movement for this species is a “curtsy”, where the body is crouched with the head slightly turned, accompanied by soft singing. Females will sing more smoothly during this display, while males sing in a shorter series of notes. To impress a female, males fluff their feathers, point their bills upwards, and position their bodies so that their red underbellies are displayed clearly. Strong lateral movements with the tail are also used by both sexes during a number of different social encounters. Mates will perform mutual preening to establish or strengthen their pair-bond. Like all birds, common waxbills perceive their environment through visual, tactile, auditory and chemical stimuli.
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Estrilda_astrild/ |
occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
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Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Estrilda+astrild |
Common waxbills live an average of 4 years in the wild.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 4 years.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Estrilda_astrild/ |
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Estrilda+astrild |
Finches of the genus Estrida are monogamous, mating with only one partner. Song and display are both important aspects of courtship, and pair formation usually begins with a "curtsy" and song exchange between the two prospective mates. Allopreening occurs frequently between the mates. During the nest building and solicitation period, both males and females may participate in stem displays to their mates – a form of display during which a stem is held in the beak. The male sings an irregular pattern during this a display, while the female remains silent. After pairing off, they separate from the larger flock and breed singly. They may, however, be found in small territories adjacent to other pairs.
Males will also display to other females in the flock (those which are not his mate), but this display does not begin with a curtsy and is a type of “fluffed singing”. During this display the male positions his body to present the female with his red belly patch. He does this by placing one flank toward the female and outstretching his neck, holding his head high. He fluffs up his ventral and flank feathers, twists his tail toward the female, and the sings loudly. Females almost always flee when they receive these displays, being that they are advances from males with whom they are not mated. Males will attempt to mate with females which do not flee from his advances.
Mating System: monogamous
The breeding season for Estrilda astrild takes place in midsummer, except in winter-rainfall areas (such as Southern Africa) where the breeding season is between September and January. The nest is a weaved, spherical mass of grasses with a narrow entrance. Nests are generally on or near the ground, hidden in similar, grassy vegetation. They have a clutch size between 4 and 6 eggs, and may raise several broods a year. The incubation period lasts 11 to 12 days with both sexes working to incubate the eggs. Fledging takes 17 to 21 days and during this time both parents feed and care for the chicks. Common waxbill juveniles reach reproductive maturity between 6 months and 1 year of age.
Breeding interval: Common waxbills may raise several broods a year.
Breeding season: Common waxbills mate in midsummer in most locations, and between January and September for winter-rainfall areas.
Average eggs per season: 4 to 6.
Average time to hatching: 11 to 12 days.
Average fledging age: 17 to 21 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 6 to 12 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Common waxbills build spherical nests out of dry grasses and keep them hidden in reeds close to the ground. The female does most of the nest-building, but the male assists in decorating it and lining the inside with feathers. Both parents spread animal scat in the nest throughout the nesting period as a way to divert predators. A unique feature to common waxbill nests is the formation of a separate “cock’s nest” located atop the main nest. No one is certain what the purpose of this secondary nest is, but it appears to be a resting place for the parent who is not incubating the nest.
Both male and female common waxbills incubate and feed the helpless, altricial young. The nests of common waxbills are often utilized by brood parasites such as pin-tailed whydahs (Vidua macroura), and the waxbill parents dotingly care for these parasitic young alongside their own.
Parental Investment: altricial ; male parental care ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
- Burton, M., R. Burton. 2002. The Wildlife Encyclopedia. Tarrtown, New York, USA: Marshall Cavendish Corporation.
- Kunkel, P. 1967. Displays Facilitating Sociability in Waxbills of the Genera Estrilda and Lagonosticta (Fam. Estrildidae). Behaviour, Vol 29 No 2/4: 237-261.
- Schuetz, J. 2004. Common waxbills use carnivore scat to reduce the risk of nest predation. Behavioral Ecology, Vol 16 no 1: 133-137.
- Schuetz, J. 2004. Reduced growth but not survival of chicks with altered gape patterns: implications for the evolution of nestling similarity in a parasitic finch. Animal Behaviour, 70, issue 4: 839-848.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Estrilda_astrild/ |
Global Range: Native to Africa south of Sahara. Introduced and established in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor and Kahuku area on Oahu; apparently expanding range) and Tahiti. Reported by AOU (1983) as established in Puerto Rico but not mentioned by Raffaele (1983).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Estrilda+astrild |