Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of small seed-eating

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds of the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

tropics and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colours and patterns. All estrildids build large, domed nests and lay five to ten white eggs. Many species build roost nests. Some of the firefinches and pytilias are hosts to the brood-parasitic

indigobird The indigobirds, whydahs and cuckoo-finch make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa. These are finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. The birds named "whydahs"The ...

s and whydahs, respectively. Most are sensitive to cold and require warm, usually tropical, habitats, although a few, such as the

eastern alpine mannikin The eastern alpine mannikin (''Lonchura monticola'') or alpine munia is a species of estrildid finch native to the Papuan Peninsula. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km2. It is found in subtropical/ tropic ...

mountain firetail The mountain firetail (''Oreostruthus fuliginosus'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in New Guinea. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of . It is the only species in the genus ''Oreostruthus''. It is commonly found in u ...

red-browed finch The red-browed finch (''Neochmia temporalis'') is an estrildid finch that inhabits the east coast of Australia. This species has also been introduced to French Polynesia. It is commonly found in temperate forest and dry savannah habitats. It may ...

, and the genus ''Stagonopleura'', have adapted to the cooler climates of southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the highlands of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. The smallest species of the family is the

Shelley's oliveback Shelley's oliveback (''Nesocharis shelleyi''), also known as the Fernando Po oliveback, is a species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 55,000 km2. It is found in Bioko island, western Cam ...

(''Nesocharis shelleyi'') at a mere , although the lightest species is the

black-rumped waxbill The black-rumped waxbill (''Estrilda troglodytes'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,000,000 km2. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Afr ...

(''Estrilda troglodytes'') at . The largest species is the

Java sparrow The Java sparrow (''Padda oryzivora''; Japanese: 文鳥, ''bunchō''), also known as the Java finch, Java rice sparrow or Java rice bird, is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali and Bawean in In ...

(''Padda oryzivora'') at and .

Taxonomy

The family Estrildidae was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

as "Estreldinae", a spelling variant of the subfamily name. In the list of world birds maintained by Frank Gill,

Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithology, ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State Uni ...

and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) the family contains 140 species divided into 41 genera. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown the family Estrildidae is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to the family

Viduidae The indigobirds, whydahs and cuckoo-finch make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa. These are Finch, finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. The birds named "whyda ...

containing the indigobirds and whydahs. The two families diverged around 15.5 million year ago. The

most recent common ancestor A most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as a last common ancestor (LCA), is the most recent individual from which all organisms of a set are inferred to have descended. The most recent common ancestor of a higher taxon is generally assu ...

of the Estrildidae is estimated to have lived around 10.9 million years ago. A genetic study of the Estrildidae by Urban Olsson and

Per Alström ''Per'' Johan Alström (born 9 April 1961) is a Swedish Professor of ornithology. He does research in Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, systematics, and evolution, with birds in Asia as a specialty. Alström works at the Department of Ecology and Genet ...

published in 2020 identified 6 major

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

. The radiations within these clades occurred between 4.5 and 8.9 million years ago. The authors proposed that each of these clades should be treated as a subfamily. This contrasts with an earlier proposal in which the family was divided into three subfamilies.

Genera list

References

External links

Zipcode Zoo: Estrildidae

Internet Bird Collection.com: Estrildidae videos, photos and sounds

Waxbill Finch Society
— specialist waxbill bird society based in the UK''. {{Authority control Bird families . .