Negrofinch
Encyclopedia
The negrofinches or nigritas are small passerine
bird
s belonging to the genus
Nigrita in the estrildid finch
family Estrildidae. There are four species; they occur in forest
, secondary growth
and scrubland in West
, Central
and East
Africa
.
They 10-15 centimetres long. The bill
is short and black and is fairly slender in some species. The colour of the plumage
varies but all have a dark tail. The upperparts are grey or brown and the underparts are black, grey, white or reddish-brown. The Grey-headed Negrofinch
and
male Pale-fronted Negrofinch
have a black face and the White-breasted Negrofinch
has a black cap. Negrofinches have whistling or trilling songs
and calls.
They feed on insect
s, fruit
and seed
s. They often forage high in the treetops, usually alone or in pairs.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s belonging to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Nigrita in the estrildid finch
Estrildid finch
The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They can be classified as the family Estrildidae , or as a sub-group within the family Passeridae, which also includes the true sparrows....
family Estrildidae. There are four species; they occur in forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, secondary growth
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
and scrubland in West
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, Central
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
and East
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
They 10-15 centimetres long. The bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
is short and black and is fairly slender in some species. The colour of the plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
varies but all have a dark tail. The upperparts are grey or brown and the underparts are black, grey, white or reddish-brown. The Grey-headed Negrofinch
Grey-headed Negrofinch
The Grey-headed Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 3,700,000 km²....
and
male Pale-fronted Negrofinch
Pale-fronted Negrofinch
The Pale-fronted Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,500,000 km²....
have a black face and the White-breasted Negrofinch
White-breasted Negrofinch
The White-breasted Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 2,700,000 km²....
has a black cap. Negrofinches have whistling or trilling songs
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
and calls.
They feed on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s. They often forage high in the treetops, usually alone or in pairs.
Species list
- White-breasted NegrofinchWhite-breasted NegrofinchThe White-breasted Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 2,700,000 km²....
, Nigrita fusconotus - Chestnut-breasted NegrofinchChestnut-breasted NegrofinchThe Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 3,000,000 km².-Habitat:...
, Nigrita bicolor - Pale-fronted NegrofinchPale-fronted NegrofinchThe Pale-fronted Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,500,000 km²....
, Nigrita luteifrons - Grey-headed NegrofinchGrey-headed NegrofinchThe Grey-headed Negrofinch is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 3,700,000 km²....
, Nigrita canicapillus