''Estrilda'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family (taxonomy), family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. ...

in the family

Estrildidae Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. They are gregarious ...

. Most of the genus is found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

with one species, the Arabian waxbill, ranging into

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Some species are kept as pets and have been accidentally introduced to various parts of the world.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Estrilda'' was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

with the

common waxbill The common waxbill (''Estrilda astrild''), also known as the St Helena waxbill, is a small passerine bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other regions of the world and n ...

as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The name of the genus is from ''astrild'', the specific epithet of the common waxbill that was introduced by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1758.

Species

The genus contains 11 species: The genus formerly contained other species with "waxbill" in their common name that are now placed in the genera ''

Coccopygia ''Coccopygia'', is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae. They are distributed across central and southern Africa. Taxonomy The genus ''Coccopygia'' was introduced in 1862 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The n ...

'', ''

Brunhilda Brunhilda may refer to: * Brunhild, a figure in Germanic heroic legend * Brunhilda of Austrasia (c. 543–613), Frankish queen * ''Brunhilda'' (bird), a genus of birds See also * * * Broom-Hilda, an American newspaper comic strip * Broomhild ...

'' and ''

Glaucestrilda ''Glaucestrilda'' is a genus of estrildid finch in the family Estrildidae. The genus is found in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million s ...

''.

References

Waxbills Bird genera Estrildidae Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by William Swainson {{Estrildidae-stub