Family Waxbills (Estrildidae)
Least Concern
Violet-eared Waxbill (Granatina granatina)
Taxonomy
French: Cordonbleu grenadin German: Granatastrild Spanish: Granadero meridional
Other common names:
Common Grenadier
Taxonomy:
Fringilla granatina
Linnaeus
, 1766,Brazil; error = Angola
.Distribution:
S Angola, SW Zambia and Zimbabwe S to Namibia, Botswana, N South Africa (S to N Northern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga) and S Mozambique.
Descriptive notes
14 cm; 9·5-13·9 g. Male has forehead to superciliary region deep blue, crown rich chestnut, grading to paler rufous-brown on back and upperwing-coverts; rump... read more
Voice
Contact call "tsek"; excitement or threat call "chay chay chay"; nest call by... read more
Habitat
Acacia (Acacia) savanna and thorn thickets, Terminalia woodland, Bauhinia... read more
Food and feeding
Small seeds of grasses and of the forb common purslane (Portulaca olearacea), fruits of small trees, nectar of aloes (Aloe... read more
Breeding
Breeding records, from a few weeks after first rains into dry season: in Botswana Dec–Jul (mainly Feb–Apr), in Zambia Dec... read more
Movements
Resident, with local movements. In South Africa (North West Province and Free State), ringed... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common; nowhere very numerous. Estimated population in excess of 5000 individuals in S Mozambique (in inland Sul do Save). In N South Africa... read more
Birds from near Okahandja, in C Namibia, described as race siccata, and others from near Panda, in Inhambane district of Mozambique, as race retusa, appear to differ little from those elsewhere in species’ range. Treated as monotypic.